A 'Love'ly Year
by Resident Asian
Summary: What do you get when you mix Team Mustang with alcohol and the realization that Falman is married? A year long challenge that means literal life or death if the challenge isn't completed. And you thought being in a relationship for one month was tough!
1. The Bet

**Hey guys, your Resident Asian here!**

**So this idea came up to me when I was coming up with a good, not crappy ending for my Fluff Fic and when I came up with the concept…. I was smiling. I just HAD to write this.**

**I will foreshadow you a warning: This fan fiction will (Every now and then) feature an OC. Yup, it's the loud, Royai shipper Ayame Mikimoto and her sister Megumi who will pop up every now and then (but this will mostly take place in Central and the Royai shippers of the FMA world will be stuck in the East City.)**

**Enjoy the story and please review (I read all of your reviews even though I don't respond to them… I should respond to them, shouldn't I?)**

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><p>Chapter One: The Bet<p>

New Years Eve, 1915 – Madame Christmas' Bar

New Bar, New Women.

New Year, New Chances.

Colonel Roy Mustang's team was having their annual New Year's Eve party at a typical bar that they had to all agree on no matter what location they would all be station in. This year, it just happened to be Roy's foster mother's/aunt's newly built bar after they blew it up days before the Promised Day. First Lieutenant Vato Falman came down from his station up in Briggs to join in with the old crew. As the drinks kept on pouring and the women kept on talking to the men (and casually, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye), things started to get a little bit shaky.

Sergeant Major Kain Fuery had recently turned 'of legal age' and tonight was the first night he went out drinking. Of course, he over did it the first time and found himself puking before an hour passed at the bar. Since that incident, he had been sitting at the bar with glasses of water to get his head from spinning, but it still didn't do anything to his judgment. Falman sat next to him with both of his hands on the bar. Since he came into the bar, Falman has always put his left hand in his pocket or in the gloves he wore. Now they were bare and… "Falman, when the hell did you get married?"

The conversations between the subordinates silenced as they all stared at the gold band around his left ring finger. Havoc came up to his side and lifted up his hand to his face, "No way, man! You actually got hitched?"

Falman grumbled. He had wished to keep this under wraps until a couple of years passed up in the north and he came to visit his team again. Plan B involved the scenario that he would be transferred back under Colonel Mustang and he could have his wife stay up north or go under the cover until he felt like it was right to tell them that he was married.

But then again… some of his superior officers were drunk already. Maybe they wouldn't remember after a couple of more drinks. "Who's the pretty lady, Falman?" Breda asked, already slurring a bit.

"Her name is Angela," he grumbled, hoping that none of them would hear that.

"Angela?" Fuery half-shouted. He swayed on his bar stool, constantly brushing up against the bar and Lieutenant Hawkeye. "Dude, did you fuck her yet?" All of the officers looked at Fuery. Okay, he's drunk, but did he have to be that discriptive? Falman had to resist himself to slap the young soldier senseless; he had some guilt in him for being so drunk at only 10 PM.

Instead of Falman slapping him, Riza slapped the back of his head, not even hesitating to do so. She had the face that read, "It was necessary." It was the same face she used when she happened to shoot at someone in the office or point her gun at someone in the office. She managed to knock Fuery's glasses off of his face and on to the ground.

Being blind as ever, he slowly got off the barstool and on to the floor. He kept on patting around for his glasses, never bothering to look underneath the bar for them. Falman groaned. Now Fuery was drunk _and _blind. What could go worst?

Oh yeah, a half-drunk Roy Mustang. He was off in the corner with a couple of girls (his "sisters" and Madame Christmas' biological daughters) trying to flirt with them as if he hasn't flirted with them before. Riza groaned, knowing that tomorrow, if she got stuck in Roy's apartment like every New Years, that Roy would be irritable and forget the majority of the things he would say tonight. She wondered why he must insist getting drunk every New Years and why every New Years she gets stuck in his apartment after driving him home.

Roy smirked, "What things do you like to do, ladies?"

Vanessa giggled, "C'mon Roy, you should know this by now. You've known me for the majority of your life."

His memory wasn't helping him here. Instead, he asked another girl the same question. She told him the same answer and found himself shut down by both of these girls. "Do you have to be so rough tonight, ladies? It's a new year, isn't it?"

Vanessa smiled, "Not just yet, Roy."

Havoc looked around for his chief. He really wanted to see the expression on his face when he finds out that Falman got married. After finding him in the corner with his girls, he yelled, "Hey Chief! Did you know that Falman here is married?"

Thank god it's a private party, Riza thought, knowing that tonight, like every New Years, her coworkers would embarrass themselves deeply.

Roy came waltzing up to Falman at the bar. Some of the girls followed him like his own personal brigade of women. Instead of asking him who he was married to, Roy decided to ask him, "When did this happen?"

"Uh, a couple of months after the Promised Day," he chuckled nervously, "I was dating her up north, sir."

Havoc and Fuery let out a fox whistle, "Damn Falman! You got some action up there, didn't you boy? I thought General Armstrong would kill you up there!"

Fuery retorted, "At least you got someone up there. I almost died! And not from General Armstrong!"

"If Falman can get a woman up in the north, then I should be able to get one too, right guys?"

Breda smirked, "I don't know if women like guys who are shorter than Fullmetal."

Everyone except for Havoc laughed. He growled, facing up to Breda, "I can walk now, Breda. It's not like I'm going to be confined to a chair all year this year!" He looked suspiciously at him, "Unless you want to know how it feels like, Breda!"

Breda took a couple of steps back and raised his fists, "Bring it!"

Riza had to walk in and break up the potential fight. Fuery already took out a couple of cenz and slapped them on top of the bar, yelling that he put his money on Breda. Falman put some money out as well and put his money on Breda as well. Havoc was about to break the glasses of Fuery for going against him, but Riza stepped in front of the two and told them to stop fighting. "Kill joy," Havoc grumbled, but ended up getting slapped upside the head by her. She didn't like how she ended up being the "designated driver" for all of them. It was already bad enough that she had been labeled as "Colonel Mustang's babysitter" for constantly watching over him when it came to his paper work. She wished that she would have at least one day at the bar to relax, but it always ended up that the men would get into fights or try too far with the women. New Years was a lot worse than other nights.

Roy cleared his throat. Oh no, Riza thought, here comes something stupid. "I have a proposition men," they all looked at him, "if Falman can get a woman, then we should too, right?"

"FUCK YEAH!" Fuery cheered, raising his fists in the air.

"Let's make it a contest," Breda added as Riza bit her lip. Those five words along with "Let's make it a bet" in a sentence and coming from a couple of drunk military men were not a good combination. She knew that it was going to end badly and the form of punishment for this type of deal was going to be extensive and most likely embarrassing.

"Hm, okay then," Roy pondered about it for awhile. "Everyone has to be in a serious relation for more than a month by the end of next year. And you can't break up with your girl after the month. It has to go on."

"Heeeeyyy," Havoc slurred, "Is Riza going to be in this?"

"Of course!" Breda shouted before she could even get out of this mess. "So, what are we going to do if we don't get that relationship?" It was silent between the team; only the giggles coming from Madame Christmas' girls could be heard and the New Years Eve radio program in the background.

Havoc yelled, "YOU HAVE TO KISS THE DARK NIGHT ALCHEMIST!" Riza's eyes widened. They cannot be serious. Major Ayame Mikimoto was stationed in East City and had a flaring personality. If any of them tried to kiss her, death would be involved. She would probably pin the person down and ask them why the hell they were trying to kiss her. For all that Riza knows, she could see Major Mikimoto forever single and forever a warrior.

Obviously the men didn't remember that Riza was in the game. Breda added, "Plus you have to pay everyone in the team 50,000 cenz."

"Oooh kay," Roy nodded after taking another shot, "So the plan is for everyone to be in a serious relationship for more than one month by the end of the year. You can't break up with the person after one month and if you don't succeed, you have to kiss the Dark Night Alchemist—"

"And not die!" Fuery added, knowing his experiences with the Dark Night Alchemist… and her sister.

"Right," he nodded, "and pays everyone 50,000 cenz. Is that good?"

His subordinates (except Riza, of course) nodded.

Roy flashed his signature smirk, "I hope you work hard in the New Year because 50,000 cenz to me is a hell load of money."

Riza groaned. Another New Years Eve Party, another embarrassing mess. Except this year… it's going to last _all _year.

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><p><strong>I had fun writing this chapter! Hopefully I will get to writing the second one as soon as possible! :)<strong>

**Please review!**

**EDIT 9/28: I had to change the year when this happened so it would correspond with the age of the OC. Sorry guys! **


	2. Recall

**Yay new chapter up!**

**Funny story: I'm writing this as I'm wearing a toga… :\ Homecoming Week! :) **

**As usual, please read and review! And I don't own FMA! **

**Thank you all!**

****EDIT 9/28: I had to change the year when this happened so it would correspond with the age of the OC. Sorry guys! ****

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><p>Chapter Two: Recall<p>

January 1, 1916 – Riza Hawkeye's apartment, 11:19 AM

Roy Mustang woke up with a terrible headache. He slowly rose from the bed he was sleeping on, and after getting his torso up, he plopped back down on to the bed, groaning. He rolled over to the side, trying to glance at the clock on the nightstand. When he saw that it wasn't there, he wondered what he did with it. He knew that he had a history of knocking it over with his pillow. He peered over the edge of the bed to find no alarm clock face down on the ground. He rolled over to the other side to find that the alarm clock was on the other nightstand.

Roy was confused. He could've sworn that he puts his alarm clock on the right side of the bed. Maybe it was the alcohol that was screwing up with his mind. Knowing that it would be useless to get out of bed, Roy buried his face into the pillow, taking in the scent of lavender and… He snapped back up again. Where the hell am I? He heard barking from the next room and someone walking in slippers across the wooden floor. He couldn't be…

Trying to gain his balance and using the assistance of the furniture around the room, he got to the door and opened it. Black Hayate came running up to the hung over man, jumping up and down for attention. "Hey boy," he groggily said, petting the young puppy. Riza followed after Black Hayate, "Good morning, Riza," he nervously laughed.

"Good, you're awake," she bluntly stated as she turned into the kitchen. What's wrong with her? He thought. Usually on New Years Day, she wouldn't be so cold or ruthless. She was used to him being overly drunk on New Years Eve and learned to take care of it.

Roy quickly ran over the events from the party; Fuery got drunk within one hour of the party. Havoc got slapped by a couple of Roy's "sisters". Everyone found out that Falman got married to a girl named Angela. Breda started to act like Armstrong and take of his shirt every couple of seconds. He then tried to start a couple of bar fights, but Riza would always step in between him and the person he would fight and then Breda would go up and hug random people just like Armstrong. Falman stayed at the bar, drinking the same drink and tried to stay attentive. At midnight, Havoc started to sing off key an old military song while Fuery passed out and Falman took him home. A couple of the girls went up to kiss Roy, Havoc and Breda—but Breda "tackled" them when every they came around.

Was he missing something else? After thinking about the events from last night over and over again, he found nothing else that he forgot. Of course none of the events that happened last night would make Riza mad. Okay, she might be a little sensitive to Fuery and his first time, but all of those scenarios have happened before; Havoc always got slapped and Breda always turned into a mini-Armstrong. Roy shuddered at the fact about Breda. He usually didn't notice it, but now as the alcohol slowly cleared his mind, he could see it clearly.

He casually walked into the kitchen with Riza. She was drinking her daily tea while reading a newspaper from two days ago. "How come you brought me to your apartment?" Roy asked.

She sipped her tea, "It was closer to the bar. We were out there until 3 AM, sir."

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, leaning against the counter.

"You don't remember?" she asked, her eyes finally opening up. She started to think if she really wanted to tell him what happened. If she didn't tell him about the contest, then she wouldn't have to participate in it. But if she did tell him, she would have to participate it in… though… she could win 50,000 cenz from someone and watch the Dark Night Alchemist get kissed by one of her coworkers or her superior officer. She laughed inside; if Roy did lose the bet, it would just be awkward for him and Ayame. When Ayame became a State Alchemist, Maes Hughes started a rumor that she was Mustang's daughter. As a result, people believed that due to their Xingese heritage. She believes that at times, Roy can act fatherly to Ayame and even to Edward Elric. When Ayame leaves, Roy always tells her, "Don't get yourself into trouble". The thought of the kiss brought bad images.

If Breda had to kiss Ayame, she would punch him. If Havoc had to kiss Ayame, she would probably kill him and steal his money. If Roy had to kiss Ayame… If Fuery had to kiss Ayame, she would probably switch between her sister and make Megumi receive the kiss. Fuery was right—who ever would have to kiss Ayame would have to do it and not die.

Roy shook his head, "It's not clear to me. Don't tell me I started another bet against one of the subordinates."

Riza sighed, knowing that Roy had a hunch on one of the biggest events of the night. After the contest was made, Havoc thought it would be funny to get one of the girls at the bar. Of course, he was denied and he was slapped for the things he said. However, when that performance was over, he started a bet on who would end up with whom by the end of the year. He bet against Fuery as a form of "punishment" for betting against him in the almost-fight with Breda that he would get back together with Megumi Mikimoto, Dark Night's younger sister, or would get Sheska.

Fuery, being drunk, said, "Ayame Mikimoto would kill me!"

"No, I said MEGUMI. The younger sister! The one with brown hair—" he came up on a blank. "The one who always hides behind her sister and can't speak Amestrian as well as Ayame?" Fuery shook his head, "Never mind, you're going to end up with Sheska—"

"I think Sheska loves books more than men!" Breda retorted, "Where has she been anyways? She's not working in the military still, right?"

Riza lost hope in Roy in terms of his judgment. He was flat out drunk by now. "Havoc, you should ask the Harpy-Lady out!"

"Fuck no!" he slammed his beer on the bar, "She, like Dark Night, will kill me!"

"You're just too much of a pussy to ask her out, Havoc," Roy insisted.

"A pussy? You've been eying Hawkeye for how long, Mustang?" Riza slapped Havoc upside the head again. "Hey! What did you do that for, Hawkeye?"

There was a knock at the door. Black Hayate ran up, barking and jumping to get up on the door. Roy and Riza both looked at the door. "Go ahead and make yourself breakfast sir. I didn't know what you would like," she said as she walked out of the kitchen and to the living room. She looked through the peep hole. Rebecca Catalina stood on the other side with a big smile on her face. Riza took out the door jam and unlocked the door. Rebecca opened the door and walked in, "Hey Riza!"

"Rebecca," she groaned, tilting her head to one side, "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you and I were going to out for lunch today," she stated as some of the cafes around Central were having New Years Day specials.

"Oh, right," Riza nodded, tired and feeling embarrassed that she forgot about her day with Rebecca. She usually doesn't forget things, but after a long night at the bar with her coworkers and practically babysitting them, she had a good excuse. "Just give me a moment to get changed." Rebecca smiled, sitting on the couch in the living room as Riza ran down the hallway. She stopped at the kitchen, "Do you think you can drive yourself back home, sir?"

"I can't hang out here?" he asked, surprised. Riza looked at him with a straight, un-amused face. He sighed, "All right. I'm not that hung over to get there."

"Thank you," she said with a half smile then kept on moving to her bedroom. She got changed into a simple dark blue sweater and white pants. She grabbed the tennis shoes from the bottom of her closet and pulled them on before grabbing her coat and gloves. Rebecca saw Roy slowly eating in the kitchen, displaying a hung over, tired face.

Riza grabbed a purse, "I'm going out with Rebecca. I hope you can find your way back home, sir."

He waved her off like it was nothing as the two ladies left. While they walked down the hallway, Rebecca asked, "You're not with Mustang, are you, Riza?"

"No," she shot it off, "He was just really drunk last night and I always take him home." Usually, when she takes him home, he's passed out in the back seat and then wakes up when they're at the apartment so he can get upstairs easily and fall on his bed. This time, because Roy started the love contest and was drunken past belief, he said a lot of explicit things.

"Heeeyyy Reeezza… let's go to Hughes' grave," he drawled out.

"Why? What do you want to do there?" she asked.

"I waaant to tell him … Happy New Years…" he started laughing. Roy, when he's _really_ drunk, ended up to be a happy drunk. He would always be smiling and laughing. Riza knows that for a fact—but the rest of the subordinates? Not a clue. "Heeeyyy Reeezzaa… I want to tell you something…"

"Yes?"

"I think you're pretty…. "

She wasn't sure how to answer that one. So, instead, she just accepted the compliment and pretended that it was nothing. She knew that he didn't really mean it; Roy was flat out drunk. Compared to all the women he has dated, she was nothing more than just a childhood friend and subordinate. "Heeeeyyy Reeezza… why don't you wear your hair down during work?"

"Because, sir," she stressed, "It would only get in my way of work."

"I think you're really pretty when you wear your hair do…" and Roy passed out in the back of the car.

Rebecca was curious about Roy and how drunk he could get. She knew that he was a hot shot, no pun intended, and a womanizer. "What happens when he gets drunk?"

"It's mostly 'what happens when him and the others get drunk', Rebecca," the two stepped outside of the apartment building into the cold air of Central. The snow started to lightly fall from the skies. "Let's see… Havoc gets slapped around a bit… Breda acts like Armstrong," the girls shuddered at that fact.

"I hope I never get to see Breda drunk," Rebecca groaned.

"It's quite interesting," Riza laughed, "He does everything; strip, say things loudly in a deep voice and hug people. The only thing that he's missing is the sparkles."

"What else?"

Riza started to think about it, "Falman doesn't really show when he gets drunk. Fuery just had his first time with alcohol legally so he went all out on it and got drunk within an hour—"

"How did that turn out?"

"It was terrible."

Rebecca laughed, "And Mustang?"

"Bets," Riza pouted, "and women. It's a bad combination. Last night, he made a contest for all of us that involve us getting into a serious relationship for more than one month since Falman could secure a serious relationship and get married. We can't break up with the person once the month is up as if we were using them and by the end of this year, if we haven't gotten a serious relationship, we have to go to East City and kiss Major Ayame Mikimoto and pay everyone who has gotten into a relationship 50,000 cenz."

Rebecca's eyes widened. She acted like a connection to the young State Alchemist to Fuhrer Grumman and Colonel Mustang. She liked Ayame very much and often saw her as an asset to the military. The image of any of Team Mustang kissing the hyper eighteen year old shuddered Rebecca. "Yeah, it's _that_ bad."

"Does he even remember it?"

"That's the problem… he has a hunch but he's not hitting the nail quite yet," Riza stated, "I just hope he doesn't hit it at all."

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><p><strong>Woo hoo! I got the Harpy Lady situated in the story!<strong>

_**Ayame: "When am I ever going to say something in this story?"**_

**-smirks- Not just yet, Ayame. **

_**Ayame: "Please don't make me kiss any of them… it's gross!"**_

**-evil smile-**

_**Ayame: "Do you want to die today?" **_

**You can't hate on me. I'm in a toga. **

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are AWESOME and I read all of them even though I don't respond to them…. Should I though?**

**Anyways, I still can't thank you guys enough! **


	3. Phone Calls

**Yay! I'm on a roll!**

**I guess I should address this: I do not FMA. All Fullmetal Alchemist characters below to Arakawa-sama and the OCs (mainly Ayame and Megumi Mikimoto) belong to Resident-Asian-sama.**

**Read and review!**

**Thank you for reading and supporting (in advance)**

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><p>Chapter Three: Phone Calls<p>

January 4, 1916– Central HQ; Roy Mustang's office

After the New Years Eve break that all military personnel observed, work started to flow as if there wasn't a break at all. Colonel Mustang still had the stack of papers piled up on his desk daily and Lieutenant Hawkeye was still "trigger-happy" (as Havoc put it) with the gun. However, for the past couple of days since the New Years Eve party, she as been quiet and the constant fear of anyone remembering the contest lulled over her every day.

The men seemed to forget everything that happened that night, or at least, the contest. Fuery still remembered that he passed out a couple of times and he could recite all the things he said that caused a couple of the men to turn heads. Havoc could remember being slapped—he knew he would be slapped when he would get drunk. But Breda couldn't remember acting like Armstrong. When the team told him about it, he crossed his arms across his chest and said, "Until you have photographic proof, I won't believe it." Now Riza had to remember to bring a camera just to prove to Breda that he really does turn into an Armstrong-clone when he gets drunk.

Falman took the early morning train back up to Briggs over the weekend. He said his best wishes to the team, telling them good luck. But he was implying about the contest. Falman was as sober as Riza at the party. According to him, it takes a lot to get him drunk. He also complained before that the alcohol in the northern bars was stronger than the drinks in Central.

Falman also addressed his wishes to be transferred back into the team. While Colonel Mustang said nothing about it, the rest of the men shared the same feelings too. Things were just not the same with Falman around. "Hopefully," Havoc smirked, "You can bring your wife down here and maybe… you should get busy with her."

Fuery, even though he was the one who asked him, "did you fuck her yet" to Falman, almost passed out. His mind was young; he didn't know much. Even though Breda and Havoc constantly try to corrupt the young mind, he was still missing out on a lot of street smarts.

In the late afternoon, Mustang's phone started to ring. He put down his pen and lifted up the receiver. "Colonel Mustang," he nonchalantly said, "Oh. Hey Falman. You're already up north?"

"Yes sir," he was always polite no matter what scenario he seemed to be in, "I just called to remind you about the little contest we all agreed on." Roy's face went pale. What did he mean by that?

"W-What contest?" By now, everyone was looking at him as he had the most confused face that anyone had seen.

"You don't remember?" Falman laughed, "Well, you were half-drunk by the time the challenge was made. I don't blame you for that."

Riza came up to his desk, "Colonel, who are you talking to?"

"It's Falman," he said, removing himself from the receiver.

"Don't forget—if none of you guys are in a serious relationship for more than one month, you all owe me 50,000 cenz." Roy's eyes widened. How could he not remember that? He felt stupid inside. Falman is married, meaning that he had already completed the challenge and automatically gets 50,000 cenz from the sore loser who ends up single at the end of the year. Why didn't he catch that when he made the challenge?

Oh right. He was drunk. Calmly, he stated, "I'll be sure to let you know, Falman. See you later." He hung up the phone and then proceeded to slam his forehead on his desk. Riza's eyes went from staring at the papers in her arm to her superior officer. He groaned loudly, sitting back up and getting back to work on the papers. "Havoc," he growled, "Do you remember what happened on the New Years Eve party?" He paused, "Besides the facts that Fuery got drunk and passed out and you got slapped constantly by the girls?"

He shook his head, "I wasn't sober at the party. Lieutenant Hawkeye and Lieutenant Falman were the only ones sober."

Roy's onyx eyes slowly trailed up to Riza's brown eyes. It seemed that every year she was the sober one. "What happened, Lieutenant?" he asked.

Her heart started to race. She didn't want to tell him about the contest at all. She didn't even want to be involved in it, but it was inevitable; Falman wasn't as drunk and remembered everything that happened that night. And with a guy like him, it's hard to let something pass—Falman's memory was phenomenal. "You were drunk."

"Well yeah, I knew that part," he insisted. "What else?"

Riza sighed, "You started a contest since Lieutenant Falman could get a wife."

"Oh, really… what did this contest include?"

"You have to be in a relationship for at least one month and can't break up with the person after the one month—"

"Explain."

"If you were to date Vanessa," Riza knew that Vanessa and Roy were together in the days leading up to the Promised Day, but she didn't really know what happened between the two and left it at that. "And last one month… say for instance you break up with her on the one month mark, you can't say that you finished the challenge."

He nodded, "Okay. Continue."

"At the end of the year, if you're single you have to go to East City and kiss the Dark Night Alchemist and pay those who completed the challenge 50,000 cenz," Roy started to get nervous. That was a large sum of money—not to mention a death wish. The Dark Night Alchemist tried to stay practical when it came to relationships not to mention that she was practically friends with everyone on the team. Personality wise… it was different; she acted different towards other people.

Havoc argued, "It involves everyone on the team?"

Riza nodded, "Fuery, you were the one who responded 'fuck yeah' when the Colonel asked 'if Falman can get a girl, then we should too'. You fanned the flames."

"Whose bright idea was it to add kissing Major Mikimoto?" Havoc asked, crossing his arms across his chest. He was not happy for this contest. In any case, he would end up losing the entire challenge and his girlfriend. And he knew for sure that Roy would win. He's a womanizer. It wouldn't be that hard for him to get a girl for at least a month. In fact, Havoc knew his superior officer so well that he expects him to grab his ex-girlfriend the moment they break up.

Riza glowered at him, "It was you, Havoc." His eyes widened. No. He couldn't have added that clause. Havoc sunk in his chair; now he was going to lose the challenge, lose 50,000 cenz, his girlfriends to Mustang, and his life for kissing Major Mikimoto.

"How long does this challenge last?" Roy asked, a little nervous. He regarded Ayame as one of his subordinates (she was at one point until someone decided to transfer out of his command) and biggest supporters (she paired herself up with Maes Hughes when he was still around.) Not only was she that to him, but she pushed hard for him to go out with Lieutenant Hawkeye (again, another attribute she obtained from being with Hughes all the time when he visiting Eastern Command.) Any fooling around with her meant death.

"It's until the end of the year," Riza stated. "Now will you please continue your paperwork, sir?" He nodded slowly as she threw another stack on his desk and walked away. Thanks a lot, sir, she thought in her mind, now knowing that she had to be in this contest. She decided to think of guys that she could easily obtain or go after. She didn't want to get anyone from the military thanks to the fraternization laws. Maybe Rebecca could hook her up with someone. All that she planned to do was to date the man for more than one month and make him break up with her so she won't have to awkwardly kiss Major Mikimoto and pay everyone 50,000 cenz.

Havoc started to make a list of ex-girlfriends that have not been passed down to Roy. Breda thought of some girls that he could get, but found himself eating his feelings out as he knew nothing on how to talk to girls. Sure, he could talk to Lieutenant Hawkeye and Major Mikimoto, but the two of them are similar to each other; both of them would use guns as a form of discipline, both of them are remarkable women in the military, and they are both very protective. The only differences between the two were background and the fact that while Lieutenant Hawkeye would reason with Colonel Mustang, Major Mikimoto often ended up siding with his gut feeling which means more death and more stupid results coming from it. Now that he was thinking about it, Major Mikimoto went against everyone—including Edward Elric. She was the devil's advocate.

Fuery nervously stared at a phone number in front of him. It has been five months since his last relationship. And that last relationship ended up kind of badly… it was only a form of miscommunication with his girlfriend and the only reason why he broke up with her was to protect her. And now his chances of getting back with her are slim. Either way, win or lose, Fuery would have to deal with the same family: the Mikimoto family.

He dated Megumi Mikimoto, the younger sister of Ayame, when they both lived in East City. When he was transferred to Central, he still kept touch with her. They wrote letters to each other almost everyday and she would always get a phone call from him. When Fuhrer Bradley dissolved Team Mustang, Fuery got sent to the South. He also found out about the Fuhrer and the whole plan for the country, thus contact with Megumi would be haltered since her sister has connections to Roy. The girls were already separated from the team by being in East City. He had to break up with her, and she only told him that he was leaving her for some pretty lady in Central. She hated it. He hated it. He hated how Ayame turns protective of her sister and thus, he has to get through her before he gets to Megumi.

_Maybe I can just call her today, he thought_. _A call would be nice. We are friends. She didn't show any resistance to me when I saw them after the Promised Day, but Ayame was a little mean to me… but she's mean to everyone. _"Fuery, what's wrong with you? You're not sick from being drunk a couple of days, are you?" Breda asked as he stood behind him. He looked at the contents of his desktop. He had a couple pieces of paper around on the desk along with a note pad that had a phone number on it. He whispered, "That's not who I think it is… is it?"

Fuery nodded slowly, "I-I'm not sure if I should call her."

"I heard about the breakup," Breda whispered, "I'm sorry it happened—"

"N-No, it was t-totally my fault. I was the one who broke up with her only to protect her," he whispered back, "But… Ayame has turned protective over her sister. Megumi told me that if I ever came back to her that I would have to face her sister and she would…" he gulped, "k-kick my ass."

Breda sighed, "I don't blame them. Those two have gone through a lot of hell lately. Not as bad as Fullmetal, but you still get what I mean, right?" He looked down at the young soldier, "Are you going to pursue a relationship with her?"

"M-Maybe. If I make it out alive though," he muttered as he stuck the phone number in his pocket and stood up. Fuery decided that just a phone call would help. He made his way out of the office with no words to say. Breda followed closely behind him. They went down to the phone room where Fuery took a booth and started to dial the Mikimoto apartment. He knew that he shouldn't be calling people on the military lines for personal issues, but he knew that Brigadier General Hughes did it constantly to Colonel Mustang. The phone was picked up in three rings, "Hello?" Her faint voice echoed through the receiver. Fuery panicked and hung up the phone.

"I can't do it—"

Breda pushed him aside and took the number from his hands. He lifted the receiver and dialed the number again. "Yes, you can," Breda said confidently. "You have to learn to face your fears, Fuery. In both sides of the scenario, you will kiss one of the Mikimoto girls. You will live if you go with Megumi—"Fuery reached for the phone, but then hung up. "Did you not just listen to what I said?"

Fuery shook his head, "Maybe I could ask Sheska first."

"Good luck finding her," Breda retorted, "I don't know where to start looking." Fuery returned to the office to finish off the day's paperwork. He then waited until his shift was over by fixing up a radio that he found at the pawn shop downtown. He then thought of Megumi again; she likes to listen to the radio a lot. Maybe he could give it to her.

In the meantime, Riza left the office to file the paperwork that Roy finished off. He took the liberties of grabbing the phone and calling his latest ex-girlfriend. Havoc watched as he dialed the number. Maybe if it doesn't work out for him, I can steal her, he thought. How would you like me now, Chief?

Nervously, Roy said, "H-Hello… is Katie there?" After a while he answered, "Um… this is Roy—"

_"Roy Mustang you jackass! Why the hell are you calling me back again? I know you were looking at Beth the whole time we went out to the bar. Don't tell me that you were only looking at her shirt because let me tell you, Roy, she has bigger boobs than me. I know you're like that. Gah! You're like every other man that I know. And if you're here to call me to ask me out again, then get the fuck off the line. I have a boyfriend now and he's ten times hotter than you!"_ Katie's screeches were so loud, even Fuery, from across the room, could hear it from an ear shot. Roy slowly set the phone down on the cradle. He reached for his little black book and crossed off the first name on the list. He continued the pattern twice before Riza stepped in and he resumed working on his paperwork. In all the calls, the girls have flipped out of him. Havoc decided to go in for the kill.

"So, Chief," he smiled slyly, "Do you mind passing on those numbers to me?" The two men looked at each other. Roy looked at Havoc as if he said something crazy. Havoc looked at his superior officer with a persuasive smile on his face. Roy sighed, reaching for his little black book and ripping the top three names on the list along with phone numbers.

"Here," he said as if he lost the fight. Even though this was a contest, Roy knew that Havoc didn't have the money to pay off everyone and he didn't have the life to waste kissing the Xingese Alchemist. He felt determined to have everyone complete the contest and would help out anyone—including Lieutenant Hawkeye.

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><p>6:50 PM<p>

Riza Hawkeye could not believe it. Her superior officer, Roy Mustang, just got all of his paper work done before 7 PM. "I think that's a new record sir," she stated as she packed up all of her belongings.

He smiled like a child, "There's a first for everything."

She tried to keep her unhappy face away from him. She had a feeling that he knew that she wasn't proud of the challenge they all found themselves in. She still needed to talk to Rebecca about getting someone to hook up with for possibly two months. The whole time she thought about it, she kept on thinking the same thing—it's only going to be two months. "Lieutenant, do you have any one in mind for this challenge?"

She still kept her expression away from him, "Sir, as much as I do not wish to kiss the Dark Night Alchemist, I believe that the challenge is a silly one—"

"Then why are you in it?" She thought, because Breda just had to open his mouth and scream that I was in it before ever stating any opinion.

"I had no choice sir," she left the answer out in the field, "Do you need me to drive you home, sir?"

He shook his head, "I will be okay, Lieutenant. Thanks for your concern." She gave him a salute before turning out to the door and heading for the shooting range. Maybe if she shot a couple of shots, things would clear her mind. But right now… all she needs is a man and a plan.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Please review!<strong>

**Chapter four is in the works and yeah… I do update pretty quickly.**

**Thank you very much!**

**Resident Asian**


	4. Firsts

**Someone please tell me if I'm going too fast… **

**I don't own FMA.**

**This chapter might be shorter than the third one.**

**Reviews are nice **

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><p>Chapter Four: Firsts<p>

February 7, 1916

When someone tells you that February is the month meant for love—they're mostly correct. In the month alone, at least everyone in Team Mustang had a date with someone. Roy and Havoc traded ex-girlfriends, Riza found someone through Rebecca, and Fuery had his first date with Sheska. While this was all happening, Breda found himself not giving any notion to the dates and didn't even find himself a date. When this happened, Havoc exclaimed, "Are you nuts? Do you really want to kiss Ayame?"

"No, of course not," Breda muttered under his breath, "But what am I supposed to do? I'm this portly man in the military. Not a lot of women find that attractive." And this was coming from the man who insulted Havoc on New Year's Eve for the days when he was stuck in a wheelchair.

Havoc whispered, "C'mon, we're all trying our best to help each other out." He pushed a piece of paper to his friend, "This is one of the Chief's ex-girlfriends. She's really nice and her name is Annie. You can call her tonight and talk to her. Otherwise, I'm letting you meet her tomorrow night." Havoc straightened up, "As for me, I have a date with a _beautiful _Hannah."

"Good luck," Breda nodded as Havoc winked, turning away from his friend and walking out the door for the night. Breda sighed. How could he take one of the Colonel's ex-girlfriends? He threw the piece of paper away in the trash can. Breda knew he couldn't talk to women—it was as bad as his irrational fear for dogs. He leaned back into his chair. Kissing the alchemist wouldn't be that bad, would it?

6:29 PM, Central City Park

Jean Havoc looked stunning. He took the liberties of buying a nice suit jacket to wear tonight as he waited in Central City Park for his date. He had offered her to pick her up at her house, but she stated that it would be best for him to come to Central City Park and meet up with her there. Havoc did not want to mess up this date. He 'trained' himself to deal with the craving for his cigarettes. Before, he could only last two hours before needing a hit. Now he was good for at least four hours. He found that this also saved him more money, which Breda joked that he would lose to Major Mikimoto if she ever came around and the two placed a bet on something. Just in case his ash tray cologne were to appear, he made sure he never wore the suit jacket when he went to take a smoke, brushed his teeth well and carried around breath spray.

He pulled out his officer's pocket watch. "Didn't she tell me she wanted to meet me out here at 6:30?" He muttered to himself as it was now 6:32. "Well, I'll let her be fashionably late." She did date the Colonel for a while. A big black car came up to the curb. Havoc watched with a stupid expression as a beautiful young lady with blonde hair, flowing down past her breasts came out of the car. She wore a white jacket over her dress. Havoc slowly came up to her, hiding his bouquet of flowers behind his back. How the hell did those two break up? He thought. She's a real 10.

"Hello, Miss Hannah," he smiled to her, giving her the flowers.

She smiled back, "Hello Jean. Nice to finally see you."

"Yes," he nodded. He could not get out of his mind that she was pretty. Not only that, but she was rich. She looked like she was related to the Armstrong family. He started to feel suspicious of her. He threw away the theories and offered his arm to her, "Shall we?" The two started to head to where Havoc picked to eat. Actually, it was Roy's idea in the first place—he had wished to bring her there when they went out for a date, but the place was jam packed that evening and he couldn't get in—and once again, Havoc stole it. "So, tell me about yourself."

"My father is the owner of a oil reserve in the West," she started slowly, "We have lived here in Central for a long time." She chuckled, "There isn't anything that interesting about me, Jean. How about you?"

"My parents own and run a general store out in the East," he stated, "I'm in the Amestrian Military."

"Oh," she stated bluntly, forming a big "O" in her mouth. Instead of looking excited as she did before, she kind of looked bored now. Havoc looked down at her, noticing the bored expression. He tried to tell her funny stories and jokes, but they didn't erase the expression left on her face. He offered to buy dinner so get as much as she wanted; but like the young woman she was, she only got a salad at the restaurant. Havoc felt like he was duped. He guessed that's what he gets for grabbing one of his superior officer's girlfriends.

At the end of the date, the big black car came back. "Thank you for the night, Jean. Have a good night," she said as she stepped into the car. She waved back at him as he simply raised his hand. As the car rolled away, Havoc stuck a cigarette in his mouth. "Screw this."

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><p>February 9, 1916<p>

"Rebecca, I need your help." Lieutenant Hawkeye slammed her palms on her best friend's desk in the Fuhrer's office. Rebecca flinched, not even expecting to see her best friend in here until Colonel Mustang became Fuhrer.

"With what?" she asked, leaning back into her chair.

"Could…" Riza bit her lip. This was such a stupid idea, she thought. She grumbled, "Could you hook me up with someone?"

"Hook you up with someone?" Rebecca echoed. Suddenly, Fuhrer Grumman came up behind Riza, poking her in the side, causing her to flinch and let out a little pip. She hated it when he did that to her, and she couldn't do anything about it because he's the Fuhrer of Amestris and her ultimate commanding officer. He echoed the same thing that Rebecca said, but added, "Why don't take on Colonel Mustang?"

"Your Excellency," Riza turned to him. Even though they were granddaughter and grandfather, Riza still addressed to him as a superior officer. "It's against the fraternization laws if I were to date Colonel Mustang. You should know this."

"Oh, forget about the fraternization laws," he waved it off as if it was nothing, "I want to see my beautiful granddaughter get married someday. I'm not getting any younger, Riza."

She turned to him, "Your Excellency! How can you say that?"

"I'm the Fuhrer, dear Riza," he smiled, laughing loudly. Rebecca just watched as Riza and her grandfather started talking. She really didn't want to step in; Riza just found out about her grandfather after the Promised Day. At first, she couldn't pin point why she couldn't remember until he brought up her mother and then things started to get clearer. However, since so much time has gone by between the two, their relationship has been strained. Fuhrer Grumman wished that Riza never joined the military—he saw it as a place not fit for her, but after all of the work she has completed, he softened up to the idea as it seemed like home to her. He wished he could've been there to help her from her father. From what Colonel Mustang told Grumman during their chess games, it was one of his biggest regrets. Now Grumman was willing to do anything to make his granddaughter's life better than her childhood; even if it meant to bend the fraternization laws so she can get married to Colonel Mustang—if the two ever shared feelings for each other.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. When Roy was transferred to Central, Grumman could not stop talking about him. He always expressed his desires for his granddaughter so much that Rebecca could possibly memorize every last word he said. "It's going to be Valentines Day in five days; why don't you ask Colonel Mustang?"

Riza didn't answer him. She didn't want to fight with him—especially when Grumman is her grandfather and the Fuhrer of Amestris. She decided to ignore him, crossing her arms across her chest and focused on Rebecca. "Becca you don't have anyone to give to me?"

"Well, there is this guy who is nice and all," she started off thinking about it, "I haven't dated him at all, but maybe I could hand him over to you. What do you say?"

She groaned, "Anything goes as of now. I just don't want to be caught in paying everyone."

Grumman has a sly smile on his face that read, "Then why not Mustang?" He had to be careful that he didn't annoy his granddaughter too much; he still wanted that wedding. Rebecca smiled, "Then we can go meet him tonight. He works at the bar on the East Side of town."

Riza sighed, "Fine, but if you're going out drinking again, Rebecca, then I'm the designated driver." Again, she groaned. Rebecca did like to drink, but often ended up drinking more than she could fill. She was worst than Fuery in terms of intake and worst than Breda when it came to how she acted. How could anyone act worst than Armstrong is one thing, but that's just how Rebecca does things in Central.

She came up to hug her best friend, "YAAAAYYY!" She calmed down, "But you know Riza, if you do end up with him you need to give me someone to date as well! I'm only doing this for you because you're my friend, okay, Riza?"

"Sure, I have to go, Becca. I'll see you at five tonight if the Colonel doesn't procrastinate on his paperwork," she smiled, waving to her and walking away. Just as she was at the door, she turned around to salute Grumman, who waved her off. "By the way, Becca. I have a man for you. He's at home." She smirked, opening the door and walking out.

"BLACK HAYATE DOES NOT COUNT RIZA!" She shouted.

5:30 PM

Rebecca Catalina did not like to wait. Even though it did take a lot of patience to fire of rockets and guns at people, she still couldn't handle waiting for people. She usually didn't have to wait for Riza, but it seemed as Colonel Mustang was delayed on his paperwork. The door opened and Riza came running out, pulling her hair down. Rebecca watched her as she usually did not do that until she was at home. "It's about time," she smirked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, Colonel Mustang got behind on his paperwork," Riza sighed, shrugging off her military jacket and pulling on her light blue jacket. She knew she had to change out of her pants while Rebecca drove the car. It couldn't be that bad could it?

"REBECCA! KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!" She screeched as they almost rear ended a car in front of them. Rebecca quickly applied the brakes and Riza was still unstrapped to her seat. She flew up against the backseat of the front. She could see why Maria Ross was in charge of driving the ice cream/weaponry truck on the Promised Day. Riza dug into her purse, grabbing a compact and glancing at the mirror. Her makeup was good enough for her, but her bangs and hair were all messy from Rebecca's driving. She leaned back into the back seat, putting on her seatbelt and letting Rebecca take care of things. "Are you always this bad of a driver?"

"Hey, shut up Riza!" Rebecca snapped, "There was a cute guy on the street corner and—"

"And you shouldn't have gotten distracted," she implied, smiling widely. Rebecca grumbled something about the traffic. "What's going on up here?"

Rebecca shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, but by the looks of it, there's a couple of MPs standing around the fountain." She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, "C'mon guys!" She honked the horn, "I have a hot date to meet!"

"Where is this bar?" Riza asked.

"It's on the East Side of Central. Do you know of a place called 'Eastern Experience'?" she looked at the backseat. Riza nodded, "Yeah. He works somewhere around there."

Riza climbed over to the front seat and took in account their location. She knew how to get around Central better than anyone. "Becca, pull off into that street over there."

"Okay," she said timidly, moving the car to the right lane and turning at the first turn, "What now?"

"At the church, turn left and then you should get back around the blockade," she pointed out as the church came into view and Rebecca took a left. She could now tell which part of the city she was in and found her way back to the main street. Riza leaned back. She often had to drive to the east side of town because Mustang's apartment was over there. She knew it as well as she knew East City and her hometown.

The bar was empty at this time of the day when the girls walked in. A young man with wire glasses and blonde hair waved at them, "Welcome ladies!" The two of them sat together on the bar. The man smiled, "Well, Rebecca. It seems you're finally back here."

She laughed lightly, "I guess so, Bernard."

He glanced at Riza, "Who's the pretty lady you have?" She could feel her face get warmer. No one called her that at all—well… except Roy, but that only happened when he was drunk and who knows if he's really meaning that he's saying when he's drunk.

"This is my friend, Riza," Rebecca said.

"Hello," she smiled.

Bernard put his hand out, "Bernard Jenkins."

"Riza Hawkeye," his eyes widened. He knew that name anywhere!

He leaned up against the bar, facing Riza full on and ignoring Rebecca all together, "So, you're the famous Hawks Eye in the Amestrian State Military, right?" She nodded. She wasn't sure if she should be proud of that title or not—she had to kill innocent people just for that title in Ishval. "And you work for the Womanizer of Central; Colonel Roy Mustang." She nodded, but wasn't sure still if that was a good way to be known. "He hasn't charmed you yet?"

Riza opened her mouth, but Rebecca decided to answer for her, "Bernard, if he charmed her already, then why would she be here?" _Oh no_, she thought, _Grandfather did get to Rebecca's head about Colonel Mustang. Great. Now I have to deal with Grandfather and her! Not to mention every now and then that Madame Christmas brings it up and when I see Major Mikimoto. _

He looked dumbstruck, "I'm only implying just so I can confirm that he's a woman—"

"I've built resistance to it, Bernard," she quickly stated, "and Colonel Mustang is a nice person. He cares for everyone. Central knows about it because along with General Armstrong, they saved this country." She still wasn't fond of people attacking her superior officer after all he has done. While she could understand the Ishval Civil War attacks on him, she often found herself arguing against people who attacked him for the coup d'état. "He has saved my life a couple of times," she added, feeling a slight burn from the scar underneath her turtleneck and on her back. "And I've done the same."

Bernard's boss, a portly woman wearing a black dress came up to him, "Aren't you going to serve these ladies, Bernie?"

He chuckled nervously, blushing, "Uhh yeah. What would you girls want?"

"Get me an ice cold beer, Bernie," Rebecca winked, "and the appetizer special." She turned slightly to Riza, "How about you?"

She shook her head, "Water please." Bernard nodded, turning away from them and getting to work on their food. Rebecca looked at her friend with a gaping face, "What? I told you that I would be the designated driver. And after what I've seen with your driving sober, I don't even want to know how you drive when you're drunk."

"I'm a good driver!" Rebecca complained.

Riza nodded it off. _Yeah right._

* * *

><p>February 10, 1916<p>

Kain Fuery glanced at the address in his little black book. He was supposed to meet Sheska at her house for a lunch date. He was nervous. This was his first date since the break up with Megumi. Their first date was a forced date thanks to the Colonel. There was a Xingese tradition that Ayame thought would fit well for the Colonel and Lieutenant. He decided to turn it against her and she asked Fuery out with the intention of switching with disguising her sister as the older sister.

He walked up to the door. "Here goes nothing," he sighed, ringing the doorbell. He straightened up his uniform and fixed the bouquet of flowers that he carried. He just waited outside, hoping for her to get to the door. After five minutes, he stared at the white door. Should I ring the bell again? He rang the doorbell again.

Once again, Fuery stood outside. He put gloves on his hands. He cleaned his glasses—twice. He twiddled his thumbs. He rang the door again. He walked to the nearest phone booth to call Sheska but after calling her three times, he gave up. He walked back to his car, drove to the nearest café to grab something to eat and then drove back home. When he arrived to the office, Havoc decided to ask, "How did it go?"

Fuery sighed, shaking his head and sitting back behind his desk. Maybe next time.

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><p><strong>Sorry chapter four is so long! But I had to get the first three dates started or at least done or at least… THERE HAD TO BE THREE DATES. <strong>

**Please review **

**Next up: Chapter Five!**

**Resident Asian **


	5. Confessions

**Sorry this took me awhile to post up – It was Homecoming week this week and I had to miss school today (ON FMA DAY OF ALL DAYS) for a tennis match :\**

**Enjoy!**

**I don't own FMA. I own Ayame and Megumi Mikimoto.**

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><p>Chapter 5: Confessions<p>

February 16, 1916

"So, Havoc," Roy said nonchalantly, his chin resting on one of his hands, propping it up, "How did the date with Hannah go?"

Havoc gritted his teeth. He felt that Roy had given him that number because he knew he would be shot down. He didn't want to admit that the date ended badly. He wanted to defy him—he wanted to show him what Jean Havoc was made of! He decided to go with this answer, "It went great."

Roy stared at Havoc. He did know that Hannah didn't like men from the military and those with poor social status, but he thought that Havoc could pull himself over the top and end up with the little prissy girl. "I thought Hannah didn't like guys in the military," he insisted.

"Well…" Havoc bit his lip.

Roy smirked, "Let me guess.. it didn't work."

He stood up quickly, almost knocking off the fresh pile of paperwork in front of him, "Sir! You were the one who gave me her number in the first place!"

Roy shrugged his shoulders, "I thought she would've changed by now. We dated about two years ago and I thought you liked dating Major Armstrong's sister."

Fuery pushed his glasses up his nose before asking, "General Armstrong?"

Everyone shuddered at that fact. Havoc dating Olivier Armstrong was a bad idea. Any one dating her was a bad idea unless they would like to get whipped every night. Havoc grumbled, "No, Catherine Armstrong. Not General Armstrong." He could picture it now; Olivier Armstrong standing over his corpse with her sword drawn out and blood dripping everywhere. In the background would be her brother, Major Alex Louis Armstrong trying to knock her off Havoc with his shirt off, sparkling everywhere and almost brought on to tears. "What was her deal anyways?"

"She only cares about money and status," Roy grumbled. "She dumped me after she found out that I was adopted and in the military."

Fuery, who seemed like he knew nothing of his superior officer or about the streets of Central asked, "You were adopted, sir?"

He nodded slowly, "Both my parents died when I was young."

Havoc crossed his arms across his chest, "Yeah, she had this bored expression after she asked me about my parents and our family store in the East."

"So, that's one off the list," Roy sighed, "And I doubt any of you would like to try…?" Fuery and Breda shook their heads. Breda knew he stood no chance with a girl of high class as her and Fuery had his mind set between Sheska and Megumi. "Havoc, I have another—"

"No thanks, sir," he said immediately. If Roy already gave Havoc a woman who he knew had no interest in a man like him, he wasn't sure how the other girls would go. He felt that his commanding officer was trying to make him lose so he can watch his subordinates kiss up to the Dark Night.

However that wasn't what Roy had intended to do. He knew that none of his subordinates could stomach kissing the Dark Night Alchemist. When he told Hughes that he would become Fuhrer to protect this country, he meant it and that also meant that he would protect his subordinates and supporters on his way to the top. By giving Havoc the numbers to all of his ex-girlfriends, he was hoping that one of the girls would catch attention to him and date him for more than a month.

"Fuery, how are you doing?" Havoc asked. He stopped working for a moment to look up at Havoc. "I heard that your relationship with Megumi Mikimoto ended after the team got disbanded."

"Well.." he twiddled his thumbs as his heart started to race. Fuery took one big gulp, "I-I'm trying to date Sheska."

"Sheska?" Roy looked at the Sergeant Major, "You mean the little bookworm who used to work under Hughes' command?"

"I heard she works in the 1st Branch of the Central Library," Breda added, "Didn't you have a lunch date with her a couple of days ago?"

He blushed full red. She was the second woman he went on a date with in his life, and unfortunately, she was the first woman to stand up to him. "She… kind of… stood me up."

"What?" Havoc exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise. Even Lieutenant Hawkeye, who was blocking out all of the conversations and keeping her concentration on her work, looked up at Fuery. "W-Why the hell would she do that to you? She doesn't really get mad at anyone!"

Fuery looked down, "I don't know. That's why I'm going to visit her at lunch at work. I-I really want to know her more—"

The men all rolled their eyes. They were all aware of the breakup with Fuery and Megumi and the relationship between them. And whenever Fuery started to talk about her, he started to rant and blush furiously.

Fuery left early for lunch, heading out to meet Sheska at work. He decided to ditch the flowers that he had for her the other day and bring a box of chocolates. He really didn't know what to get her for this date, but he somehow had an idea of where to go for their lunch date. Breda told him to take her on a picnic date to show how sweet he can really be, but it kept on reminding him about his relationship with Megumi.

Worst case scenario: Fuery would have to try talking to other different girls and he would be in the same boat as Breda. Maybe he could partner up with him just as Roy and Havoc were doing (but the partnership wasn't doing well at all.) He knew of a couple of girls that he talked to from high school, but he believed that they were all successful and all married. He could try, though.

He came around to the library and found that Sheska was not at the front desk as usual. Her friend, Emily, sat there instead. "Hello Sergeant Fuery," she smiled at him.

"Hello, Emily," he smiled to her, "Do you know where Sheska is?"

"Ummm…." She turned around in her chair to the door behind her, "She was putting away books a couple hours ago and she hasn't returned back."

His face became pale, "O-Oh. W-Well do you know what section she would be?"

"I think I sent her to the third floor," she stated, looking at the notebook in front of her, "To return the books to the State Alchemists Only section." Emily looked back up, "Sorry, Sergeant Fuery."

"I-It's okay. C-Can you go up and get her or something…?" He shyly asked.

"I'll send Jamie over," she tapped the shoulder of the girl next to her and asked her to find Sheska. She got out of her chair and headed out into the library. Emily started to talk to him, "So, what's going on with you and Shesk?"

He sighed, "I'm taking her out for lunch—"

"Oooh," she smiled, "Is it a date?"

Fuery shook his head, blushing red, "N-No. N-Not yet at least."

"I don't think Sheska has ever dated anyone, Sergeant," Emily sighed, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"W-Well," he twiddled his thumbs, "I-I haven't dated any one too in a long time. I-I had a girlfriend for maybe four months b-but she decided to break up with me."

"Awww why?"

Fuery shook his head, "I-I don't like to say. I-I don't think she likes to say."

"Well, who was it?" Fuery sighed. He didn't like to tell anything bad about Megumi—she was a nice girl and all with little self-esteem that can be easily brought up by complimenting her. She's sweet and innocent just like him until they both got on the battle field and Megumi turned into another Ayame and beat the living crap out of everyone and everything. "Y-You don't have to tell if you don't want to!" Emily panicked, waving her hands in front of her face.

"I-I don't think people would want to know," he admitted, "Her sister is pretty famous around these parts—"

One of the other girls came from the back room and up to the front desk. Her name was Shasha and she was the rumor queen in the library, "It's Major Ayame Mikimoto's younger sister, Megumi." Fuery sighed. Shasha liked to ruin everything.

Emily was bubbling with curiosity, "You dated Megumi Mikimoto? Is she a nice girl? Is she as evil as her older sister?"

Shasha started in on the conversation, "Did you kiss her? Does her hair really not grow anymore? Are the sisters twins or does everyone just say that?"

"Is she pretty? Does she speak as good Amestrian as good as her sister?"

"Are they really Xingese or are they adopted? Is she really good at alkahestry?"

The girl returned from looking for Sheska. "Did you find her?" She slowly shook her head. Emily groaned, "Honestly, she keeps on losing herself in the library!"

"What do you mean?" Fuery asked.

Shasha decided to let him in on their latest problem with Sheska, "We keep on sending her to put away books and according to what I've heard, she keeps on reading them before she puts them away. She can't put a book down without reading it—"

"Isn't that the reason why she was fired from here in the first place?" he asked.

Shasha nodded, "She's only here because of the late Brigadier General Hughes. After his death, the higher ups decided to put her back here instead of her nosing around Investigations."

_Great_, Fuery thought. Sheska returned to her old habits and Fuery was getting tired of this happening to him. He was thinking of just dumping her, but it wasn't something that he would do. Sure, he broke up with Megumi, but that was to protect her—he couldn't do anything else. Maybe he could… "Hey, Emily, would you like to go out for lunch with me?"

She dropped the pair of glasses she was cleaning, "Who? Me?" She pointed at herself. Emily shook her head, "Sorry, Sergeant Fuery. I have a boyfriend already." Fuery groaned inside, "but as friends, I would, but not today. I'm heading out to the West this afternoon after work."

He died a little inside. "Oh, all right. Thanks for telling me the truth though, Emily."

She smiled at him once again, "No problem Fuery."

When Fuery got back to work, Havoc grabbed him from inside a storage closet near the phone room. Fuery thought he was being assaulted or gang banged by someone in the military—someone with a lot of power and who wanted to bring Mustang down—so he started screaming and throwing punches at Breda's belly. When his punch connected, he then realized who it was, "Why the hell did you insist on doing that?"

"Sorry Fuery," he muttered quietly, "And keep quiet. I'm going to tell you one thing that must not be repeated to anyone but us two."

He fixed his glasses on his face. "Go for it."

"Okay, you know the phone room secretary Emma?" He nodded slowly, "I think she's pretty and I want to get to know her."

"Then I'll introduce you to her," he simply stated as he grabbed his wrist and tried to make him move, but Breda was stationary. "C'mon, you don't want to lose the challenge now, do you?"

"I-I can't talk to her, Fuery," Breda hissed, "She's too…"

"She's what?"

Breda bit his lip. Fuery sighed, "Lieutenant Breda, you told me that I should stick up to the man and do what I want to do. I'm almost going to tell you the same thing. Now, c'mon." He opened up the door and pulled the Lieutenant out of the closet. The two had a tug of war game going on as Breda would try to pull Fuery back in to tell him more and Fuery would try his best to pull Breda out to face his fear. He finally won and pulled him out of the closet. "It won't be too bad."

Emma had frizzy, curly, brown hair tied up in a pony tail behind the nape of her neck. She usually spent her days behind the desk in the phone room as a switch board operator. She was as good at repairing radios and telephones as Fuery was. She took a liking to the young Sergeant, so when he came around the corner, she started to feel all giddy inside. But then when she saw Lieutenant Breda, a man who she really didn't know much about, she started to feel nervous. She began to fantasize what Fuery would be telling her. She thought that Breda was around to act as a mediator between them instead of Fuery acting as the mediator. "Hello Emma," the boys smiled at her.

"H-Hi!" She said enthusiastically. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, this is Lieutenant Breda," Fuery pointed to him, smiling sincerely. Breda started to sweat and get nervous. This happened every time he spoke to a woman; he still gets nervous around Major Mikimoto and her sister, but not as much with Lieutenant Hawkeye. "Lieutenant Breda, Miss Emma Carter."

He let out a nervous hand for her to shake. She grasped it gently, "Nice to meet you, sir."

"S-Same," he managed to blurt. Out of the corner of his eye, he could Lieutenant Havoc walking down the hallway, flicking his lighter on and off. He started to get even more nervous. _Please, Havoc, stay away from here_, he thought, _just pass by and pretend that nothing is happening over here._

Of course, Havoc didn't hear any of Breda's thoughts. He came by, putting his arm around his roommate in the Academy with a half drunken smile, "Hey, Breda, whatcha doing over here man?" Breda looked away from him, embarrassed and ashamed that Havoc had to come over. "Hello Miss Emma."

"Hello, Lieutenant Havoc," she stated with a bored expression. Havoc tried to win over Emma in the beginning days of his military career and had obviously failed. Emma did go on a date with him, but it ended up with Havoc getting drunk and hitting on more girls than Emma. She hasn't forgiven him since then. "Do you all need phone lines?"

Havoc shook his head, "Hey, Emma, I can't remember what happened when you and I—"

"You were drunk, Lieutenant," she stated coldly, "And you started hitting on whores."

"Oh, now I remember—well, now I've turned a new leaf and—"

"No."

"What?"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon Emma—"

"The answer is no, Lieutenant Havoc," she gritted her teeth.

"Well, what about my men here?" Havoc managed to put his other arm around Fuery's shoulders. All three of them smiled at Emma. Fuery's was sincere, Breda's was nervous and Havoc's smile was smug. She shook her head in disappointment.

"Only one," she muttered.

"One?" the three of them exclaimed. Breda blushed. He hoped that Emma was interested with him and not anybody else. Havoc could easily get anyone that the desired. Breda was predicting that he would end up with Lieutenant Catalina if the two didn't kill each other first. The same theory occurred to Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye. He predicted that those two would end up together if Lieutenant Hawkeye didn't kill Colonel Mustang first. He was hoping that Fuery would get back together with Megumi as every time someone brought up Ayame, he would bring up Megumi. But for him, there was nobody who he could see himself perfectly with. Havoc and Rebecca hated each other, but they could work. Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye have been by each others' side since the Colonel was an apprentice for the Lieutenant's father and Fuery and Megumi were the innocent couple.

Emma started to point at each one of them as if she was going to randomize the results. After five tantalizing minutes of pointing, she pointed at Fuery. "You." He flinched, not really expecting her to pick him. "Tomorrow night at seven?"

"U-Uhh… sure?" Fuery wasn't sure how to answer that question.

"Great," she grabbed her notepad and wrote down her address, "Here's my apartment address. We can do whatever we want."

Breda and Havoc were stunned. Fuery was turning to be a little Colonel! Sooner or later, he would be courting girls like it was nothing. Fuery didn't like that she had to pick him—he was hoping for Breda to have a chance at all of this. However, Emma picked him and it wasn't anything major for him to worry about. It was just another date. Who knows if they will end up together?

* * *

><p>March 14, 1916<p>

Roy Mustang had a problem. A big problem.

It wasn't that the Ishvalans were against every last thing he tried to do to make the Ishvalans comfortable in their Holy Land or that he stayed at work very late doing his paper work or that he was going to head to Ishval with Lieutenant Hawkeye next week to see how things doing.

It was his status as the womanizer of Central. It was doing more harm than good to him.

Most of the girls that he tried to date for the challenge were dumping him on the street constantly. He never found the perfect girl in the last couple of dates, but he has been forcing himself to date them so he can get the challenge done, win 50,000 cenz from the single loser at the end of the year, save his life and get serious on Ishval. To make matters worse, Hawkeye and Breda gathered up Intel on all of his past ex-girlfriends and knew by heart which ones were actually Madame Christmas' girls and biological daughters. So fake dating his sister would lead him to his grave and an empty wallet.

Roy fears losing the challenge. He has the money to pay the winners easily, but to kiss Ayame would be awkward. Their un-biological father and daughter relationship was just too strong. Not only that, but Ayame is half his age and follows him in every step of the way. She's like another Hawkeye.

Roy Mustang has a problem and unlike before, he has no way to fix it.

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><p><strong>Man, I don't think I've written a story while I was in the car traveling back home (I'm obviously not driving. HAHAHAHA man if I was… SKILLZ)<strong>

**I like reviews! It makes me check my e-mail everyday to see what people are saying about the series! Thanks guys!**

**Thank you to Becks for giving me inspiration on what to do with this series (she hasn't watched FMA and I doubt she would like it, but she's been helping me lately with story line and dates hahaha.)**

**Speaking of Becks, I told her about Olivier Armstrong and her personality and she wants me to write a fan fiction where she gets injured and knocked out and some guy saves her who is like her in her badass ways. The whole thing is supposed to be an awkward love story. I doubt I'll write it… because seriously, who that hell do I ship General Armstrong with? I don't know! It's a dead tie between Buccaneer and Miles. Though I'm kind of leaning towards Buccaneer compared to Miles… :\**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing! Now to RIZA HAWKEYE! **

**BY THE WAY: HAPPY FMA DAY! Don't forget. 3.10.11**


	6. Remember

**WOO HOO CHAPTER SIX HERE WE GO!**

**I don't own FMA. The Mikimoto twins/sisters are my Ocs and are constantly mentioned in this series. **

**Please review! **

**ENJOYYYYYYY**

**(I almost forgot to give this to you guys today hahaha sorry about that. I'm feeling kind of all emotional and ready to read a huge fluff fic anytime soon hahaha or write one...)**

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><p>Chapter Six: Remember<p>

March 18, 1916

Riza Hawkeye could be doing something better besides listening to Bernard ramble about his childhood and job. He asked her out on this date a couple of days ago through Rebecca. Of course, Rebecca replied for Riza and forced her into the date. She was getting annoyed that people were doing this to her. First the challenge and now this? She was seriously going to shoot the next person dead the next time they forced her to do something.

Fuhrer Grumman wasn't happy. He ran a little background check of Bernard and found some interesting aspects of him. He didn't tell anyone any of those qualities; instead he coded it and eluded it to Colonel Mustang when he came up to play chess with him. And as usual, Fuhrer Grumman also alluded to Colonel Mustang should marry his granddaughter. Thankfully, Colonel Mustang still doesn't know who Fuhrer Grumman's granddaughter is. Grumman has only admitted to Rebecca and Riza who is his granddaughter. And just to keep her safe, he intends to only tell those two.

She knew she had a stack of paper work to do at home. She knew that Black Hayate would tear them to pieces and thus, she would get behind. She knew she had to pack up still for the week trip to Ishval with the Colonel. The list of things piled up as Bernard kept on talking. As she kept on scanning the room—a habit of hers that she obtained from watching Roy's back for all these years—she couldn't help but notice people staring at her. The Promised Day gave her some spotlight, but not as much as Roy and General Armstrong received. Her reputation as the assistant of the Womanizer of Central and the Hawks Eye often trumped her involvement in the Promised Day. She secretly wished it were the other way around. Her reputation as it is gave a bad connotation.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a familiar Xingese-looking man coming into the restaurant. She was glad that her back was turned from him, but she mentally kicked herself when she realized that she was wearing her hair in her signature style and could easily be picked out even with her back turned against someone. Bernard took another sip of water, "What's Colonel Mustang doing here?"

Riza turned her head slightly. She knew he was here, but what for? He had a date by his side, but she had a feeling that it was one of Madame Christmas' girls. She remembers seeing her at the New Years Eve party. Didn't Breda and her tell him that he couldn't date any of Madame Christmas' girls to complete the challenge? She started to ponder if they should penalize him for this. He came to pick up something and then left with the girl. "I wonder what that was about."

"It's probably one of his sisters," Riza sighed.

"Oh," Bernard smiled and then started to rant again. Riza sat there, stoic and unmoved by anything he said. She was really going to shoot Rebecca later.

Later that night, Bernard drove Riza to her apartment. It was about 10 PM and she knew she was going to stay up until probably 2 AM to finish the paperwork she didn't finish. She didn't like how Bernard put the time of the date at 7 PM—the time when Riza would be done with her paperwork and she would start scolding the Colonel for staying late. She didn't like Bernard at all; he often bored her with silly stories about his life and his job. She was only dating him so that she could finish the challenge and complete the challenge. As much as she hates using people, she felt like this had to be done so she would devote herself to Colonel Mustang's Ishval project fully. Repairing Ishval was on her mind the whole time before the challenge, and now it seemed as if the challenge was a make it or break it situation for the eastern area.

"I had a good night with you, Riza," he smiled at her.

"Same," she dryly replied. Bernard decided to get close to Riza. He leaned in to kiss her, but she quickly unlocked and opened her front door behind her. Twisting the doorknob, she fell backwards as if it was an accident. Bernard tripped and missed completely. He didn't even touch Riza. Black Hayate ran out the door and tackled him on the ground. Riza quickly grabbed her dog, "Sorry about that Bernard. I'll see you later."

"Y-Yeah," he got the wind knocked out of him as he stayed on the ground. Riza closed the door on him and waited for him to leave. Once he was gone, she sighed deeply and looked at Black Hayate.

She smiled, petting him on the head, "Good boy."

* * *

><p>March 20, 1916 – Central Shooting Range<p>

It has been awhile since Havoc went to the shooting range. Ever since the incident with Lust and his rehabilitation, he hasn't done the much needed shooting practice. Breda and Fuery often picked him on about his shooting post-rehab. It was shaky and he missed a lot. Breda and Fuery constantly told him that he should practice like Lieutenant Hawkeye who goes to the shooting range every day before work is over. When she's really pissed, she'll go there two times a day—one during the day and once while Colonel Mustang is doing his paperwork. If there was any doubt that he would procrastinate on his work while she was out there—it was gone. When Lieutenant Hawkeye is pissed… she's pissed.

Havoc headed out into the range with his rifle. He missed holding it and being able to shoot things with it. He wanted to get better now that he had a second chance. He swore to get better and to never give up. His determination had doubled since getting his legs back. Breda joked that each of his legs had an ounce of determination.

He is really picky about which booth he gets to shoot in. He usually goes for the twelfth booth in the row, but when he saw that someone was in it, he started to get angry. Just because he had retired for a couple of months of the year didn't mean that the hotshot in the booth has first rights to the booth. Twelve was his lucky number and every time he has been in that booth for a shooting contest with Lieutenant Hawkeye, he has gotten very close to beating her. He had to check the rank of the person in the booth to see if he can yell at that person or not. However, when he peered over the laying body, he noticed that the person had long, wavy brown hair tied in a ponytail and was just wearing military pants and a dark blue turtleneck. He thought it was Lieutenant Hawkeye, but then realized that she has blonde hair. The person in the booth got up. "Rebecca Catalina?" he exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing in my booth?"

"Your booth?" she questioned him, "It doesn't have your name on it, Havoc."

He gritted his teeth. He couldn't stand Rebecca. There was always something about her that made him tick. The same happened to Rebecca. She thought Havoc was a cigarette loving, money wasting, cocky man in the military. She did feel bad when he lost his legs a year ago, but inside, she was screaming and yelling in happiness. That's what you get, she had first thought. She found some way of standing him when they had to get the weaponry for the Promised Day but she had believed that it was the wheelchair that changed her ideas. Rebecca could find the happy medium between bitter enemies and good accomplices, but it was hard to find that happy medium.

Rebecca reloaded her gun and resumed her position in the booth. "If I get a better accuracy than you, then I get the booth," Havoc demanded the challenge. Rebecca turned to him.

"Rifle?" she asked as she had it in her hands already.

"Rifle," he nodded.

"And the loser?"

"If I win, I get the booth and you're kicked out. If you win, I'll move. It will be that simple," he smiled at her.

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "You're on!" Havoc walked to the booth next to her and loaded his gun. "How many shots?" she asked.

"Best out of three rounds," he replied as he laid down on the mat and aimed for the target a couple meters away from him. He then started to fire. Rebecca fired as well, staying calm and fierce as her finger pulled the trigger. She wanted to show to Havoc that she can do anything that a man could do. She loved how Riza was the best sharpshooter in the military—surpassing the men as well—and with that title, she had a lot of respect. Rebecca felt like she wasn't taken seriously as much as Riza. However, the two act differently when it came to work and that was mostly the sole reason why Rebecca isn't taken seriously. She just doesn't want to admit it.

Havoc finished his first round. The target was replaced as he loaded the second round. He then did the same thing twice, reload, and assume the position and fire. Rebecca did the same, but she did it slower than Havoc just so she could get an accurate prediction on how he was doing and what she could do to compensate for it.

After the three rounds were finished, the two of them were out of their booths calculating the accuracy in their shots. It took awhile for them to get the best two that they wanted and after that was done, they approached each other. "85% accuracy," he stated.

"Dammit!" Rebecca shouted, "You beat me by two percentage points. And you were out of the range for a couple of months last year! How could you beat me?"

Havoc shrugged his shoulders, "Don't be such a sore loser, Catalina."

She punched him in the shoulder, "Shut up, Havoc! I'm just trying to figure out how you won!"

"I'm just that good," he implied, but got another punch from a pissed off Rebecca. "C'mon, as a participation award, I'll take you out to this bar I found a couple of weeks ago. I think you'll like it." He smiled as he put his arm around her shoulders. She pushed him off violently. "Okay, so no drinks tonight?"

Rebecca gritted her teeth. She didn't want to seem like she was dating Havoc—she was fully aware of the challenge going on in Team Mustang. However, she did want to go out tonight and she really needed someone to drink with. Drinking with Riza was always a bad idea… especially when she tucks guns in different places. She groaned, "No. We're going drinking."

* * *

><p>March 23, 1916<p>

Finally, Fuery got to go on his date with Emma from the phone room. She has been postponing the date for a long time. Her brother got into an accident and had to take care of him the night of the planned date. She felt really bad for letting Fuery down, but once again, he brushed it off and let her do what she needed to do. He felt like everyone was treating him just how Sheska treated him in the last two failed dates.

He accidentally bumped into her on the way to Emma's apartment. "Fuery!" she exclaimed, "W-What are you doing down here?"

"I'm here to pick up my date tonight," Sheska's face went pale.

"I-I'm sorry Fuery!" She exclaimed, pushing her glasses up her nose and dropping the pile of books she was carrying on the ground. "Please, just let me have a second chance—I found this book on how to make the perfect dinner for two and I just wanted to see if there was anything else in that book so I decided to read it. Then I found this book on gardening and—" Fuery was lost. What the hell are those kinds of books doing in the State Alchemist section of the library? He heard about Dr. Marcoh's notes for making the Philosopher's Stone and how they were coded into a cookbook… maybe those were more notes from other alchemists.

He didn't want to listen any more. As much as he was a kind-hearted person, there were just some things he couldn't take any more. He put his hand up and she stopped talking, "I'm sorry Sheska, but I gave you a second chance. A-And this girl is really nice. I want to see how this goes." Sheska looked down at her feet. Fuery squatted low to grab the books off the ground. He stacked them neatly and in order, then rose up to Sheska. He handed her the books, "Here. We can still be friends. Maybe another time, okay?"

She nodded slowly as she took the books. "Thank you." Sheska was upset that she did this to herself. She knew that it was her fault that she got lost in reading the books she was putting away in the library and at home. She didn't think that Fuery would be at her house that early, so to kill time, she decided to read. However, she didn't think correctly and now Fuery had moved on. She made sure she wouldn't mess up the next time someone asks her out like that.

He smiled brightly at her, "No problem Sheska. I'll see you later." He continued on his way to Emma's apartment. When he got there, Emma was wearing a simple brown skirt and white blouse. She had her hair tied in a pony tail and her bangs clipped to the side of her head to show off her face. She started to tug on the hair tie, "Sorry, Fuery. I just got home from seeing my brother and I didn't have enough time to fix my hair."

"It's okay," he simply stated. Fuery always looked for the good in everyone. When it came to women, he didn't care about the looks, the family history or the wealth. All that he cared about was the personality. He liked Megumi because he knew that she was bashful like he was, yet confident when ever she was doing her work. He liked her for her little mess ups when she didn't use the right words in Amestrian for something that she meant in Xingese. He liked how gentle she could be and her endearing smile. Emma quickly braided her hair into two and grabbed her purse.

Fuery laughed nervously as she came out the door. She looked at him as if there was something wrong. "It's funny… we were going to have this date a couple of weeks ago."

"Yes," she nodded slowly, "But you know, things change in an instant. Take for example the coup d'état that happened about a year ago."

"Y-Yeah. Sudden change in government, huh?" he asked as she snaked her arm around his arm.

"I couldn't believe that our government was doing that to us," she spat, "I couldn't believe that they were willing to get rid of everyone so they could be the ones on top and live forever. It sounds like something that would come out of a sci-fi movie."

He nodded, "Yes, but now that won't happen."

"How can we know?" Emma sighed, "How can we know that the government will be on the people's side? We started the Ishvallan Civil War, Sergeant Fuery—"

"Please, just call me Kain. I don't mind." He stated as they were now out of the apartment building and were now walking down the street on a lovely Spring evening. She agreed to call him Kain while he went on to describe what Colonel Mustang was up to. He told her about his plan for Ishval and how he was going to go down there on the 26th with Lieutenant Hawkeye to help with the start of the rebuilding project. He also stated a couple of laws that were passed by Fuhrer Grumman in the last couple of months that granted a lot of freedom for the Ishvalans. They were also compensated for the deaths of their relatives and would receive new living spaces in their Holy Land. He also went on to explain how everyone is doing everything they can do prevent this from happening again. "Colonel Mustang wishes to be Fuhrer at some point," he added.

Emma bit her lip, "You know, at one point when Fuhrer Bradley was still around, I saw Mustang as one of the cockiest men in the military. I saw him so negatively. I thought he was using all of his subordinates for his own little game and in the end, when he gets to the top, he'll ditch you all in the dust. However, from what I've heard and seen, my opinion has changed. For one thing, he helped save this country from what the higher ups were planning to do. He's rebuilding the land that he destroyed. I see him as a good man. He has my support."

Fuery smiled. He liked it when people were influenced by Roy's actions and changed their opinions on him. The Colonel needed support before, but after the Promised Day, it seems like everyone is supportive of him. "He believes that we should all protect one another," Fuery mentioned.

"Does that mean that the government and the military will protect us as well? As it is supposed to be?" Fuery nodded and Emma smiled, "Well, well, I know who I would want to be as Fuhrer after Fuhrer Grumman is done with."

Fuery and Emma kept on talking about work and politics on their way to the restaurant that Fuery picked out. He asked Emma what kind of restaurant she would like to go to in the first place and found that she liked this diner on the north side of town. She told Fuery that she was a simple person that liked simple things. She didn't like to be swooned or to have extravagant dates. She wanted a man who was down to earth. Fuery hoped he was that kind of person.

It was amazing how much politics a woman like Emma knew. Of course with working in the military, she hears a lot of it on a daily basis. "Do you ever get sick of it?"

Emma shook her head, "Nah. Even though my job doesn't require me to know a thing or two on politics, I'm still interested in it and I feel as if everyone should know what things go down in our government instead of blindly agreeing to everything."

Fuery nodded in agreement. He was starting to like Emma a little bit now. He was nervous for taking Breda's first pick when she had picked him, but it looked like things were going well with them.

Maybe he would win the challenge first with her.

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><p><strong>Reading – Done.<strong>

**Reviewing – Yes please! **

**Just so people know (and to point the obvious): Fuery and Havoc are my two favorite subordinates. Okay, Riza tops them all, but I feel like it's harder to write her as it isn't with Fuery and Havoc… **

**BLAH. Forget what I said. I like Reviews and Chocolate.**

**Resident Asian **


	7. Longing

**I feel like using a different way of telling the story for this chapter. I hope this works out! **

**I don't own FMA**

**To the person who requested HavoCat: I know I should put more HavoCat… I will though! I'm always open for ideas and stuff so thanks for letting me know about that :) **

**Uuunnnfortunately this chapter doesn't have any strictly implied with the sparkling lights and extravagant sign HavoCat… Next chapter. **

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><p>Chapter Seven – Longing<p>

April 12, 1916

Kain Fuery and Emma Carter didn't last very long. Emma liked Kain a lot prior to the date, but she could only see him as a friend and nothing more. She admitted that to him when he came to call his parents on their wedding anniversary. He wasn't upset at all, but he did feel bad that Emma didn't have any feelings for Breda who really needed a girl in the first place.

However, all the men in Team Mustang were getting nervous. A third of the year has already passed and Falman was the only one who completed the challenge. Breda was getting fidgety and trying to talk to different low ranking women officers. Havoc has an idea on who to ask, but he doesn't know how to implement his plan. Mustang had himself caught up with Ishval from two weeks ago and put the challenge on the backburner.

The phone rang in Fuery's apartment that afternoon. He wanted to go down to the animal shelter that day to help with what he could do, but the phone call seemed urgent from him. Maybe he was needed back at work. He lifted up the receiver, "Hello, Kain Fuery."

"Oh good, I dialed the right number." Fuery almost dropped the receiver on the ground. The faint little voice on the other side of the line was so distinct. He knew who it was. He knew who was on the other side. But he didn't know why she was calling him. "How are you doing?"

"I-I'm doing fine," he started to laugh nervously as his heart started to beat faster and faster. Memories started to replay in his mind as time passed by, "You?"

"I'm okay, thanks," she sighed, "I need your help."

"With what?" he asked.

"I'm coming to Central." He almost dropped the phone again.

"When?" He asked, eager to know. If he could find out when she was coming, then he could come and meet up with her again. He thought of it as the perfect plan until he realized that he would be killed if he saw her again and things would get messy from there.

"Next week. Aya's best friend from Xing moved to Amestris a couple of months ago and he's a doctor over there. He's going to move to East City to he can be close to us," she stated, "However, Aya can't get off work… err… she kind of doesn't want to get off work to go back to Central every weekend to help him with the transition from there to here. So, she's sending me," she grumbled. Fuery laughed. He loved how she could sound so happy about one thing and then change her tone completely and sound like she's pissed off about it. "And of course it will be a pain in the ass because I can't speak Amestrian well and I can't get around Central without her in front of me telling me where we're going to go."

"So you want me to come with you and show you around?" he asked.

"If you could," she pleaded, "I know that I was a total bitch about what happened a couple of months ago. I-I didn't understand. I know why you had to do what you did…" She paused for a moment, "We can still be friends, Fuery." He died a little inside. She always called him by his first name no matter what their relationship was. "I-I can't talk to any one else with this dumb accent. It's only you who I feel comfortable with."

He muttered, "I understand. When are you coming?"

"I'm taking the early morning Saturday train to Central," she replied, "Can you pick me up at the station?"

Fuery nodded, "Of course! I'll see you then, Megumi."

"The same. It will be nice to see you again. Bye." After saying his farewell to Megumi Mikimoto, Fuery put the receiver down in the cradle. He then started to flip out. Megumi was coming to Central next Saturday! He could use the opportunity to get back with her and clear everything up that ruined their first relationship. He felt his cheeks get warm as he kept on thinking about her. He wanted to tell Breda, so immediately, he grabbed all that he needed in order to get into the office and back into his apartment before slipping out the front door. He grabbed his bike from the storage facility behind the apartment building and set off to tell Breda.

On the way over, he realized that he didn't really want to just tell Breda about it—he wanted to tell his team. His friends and coworkers were sympathetic towards Fuery after the breakup. If they knew that he had another chance, then things would be lighter for all of them.

Meanwhile, at the office—

Fuhrer Grumman left the room. He had just stopped in before heading back to his office to drop off a folder to Lieutenant Hawkeye. In the folder contained his information that he found out about Bernard. He felt as if it would benefit her more than anything else in this matter, but just to be safe, he once again eluded to Colonel Mustang to marry his granddaughter. Once he was gone, Mustang grumbled, "Who the heck is his granddaughter?"

Riza stayed quiet, hiding a sly smile underneath her stoic expression. She opened up the file and started to read Bernard's information. Her eyes widened when she read his criminal record. She felt disgusted that she was actually dating that man. She had to bring this up to Rebecca.

Riza rose from her chair with the file in her hands. Everyone seemed to watch her as she moved out of her desk and started to walk out the door. Just as she opened the door, Fuery came running in before she slammed the door forcefully. She managed to knock off a couple of books resting on the book case on the same wall. Fuery looked at the fallen stack, "What's going on?"

"I would like to ask you the same thing, Sergeant Fuery," Colonel Mustang said, setting his pen down in front of him. "Today was your day off."

"I know," he nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose, "But I had to tell Breda something in person."

Riza walked into Fuhrer Grumman's office after she got clearance from his secretary. She was so angry that she would shoot anyone who decided to get in her way. Rebecca noticed Riza walking in. She waved to her, "Hey, Riza!" She smiled.

Riza shot her a cold look. Rebecca seemed to disappear in her seat, "Care to explain this, Becca?"

She shook her head, "What?"

"Oh, nothing than Bernard is actually a gay man who is trying to cover up his sexuality with various women around Central?" She exclaimed, slamming the file on her desk, "Not only that but he's a registered child sex offender? Why the hell did you decide to pair me with him?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Rebecca's eyes widened, "I-I didn't know anything about him! I just thought he was a nice boy that worked at that bar we went to. I didn't know anything about him being a registered child sex offender and a homosexual! What's wrong with that?"

Riza shook her head, "That's just gross…" The image burned in her mind.

"Look, it must be a different Bernard then."

Fuery walked over to Breda and whispered, "Megumi is coming back to Central." However, his whisper was more like a mutter and Havoc caught the glipses of it.

"What? The Dark Night is coming?" He exclaimed, knowing that if those two met, they would probably make another bet and he would lose some money.

"No, no," Fuery shook his head, waving his hands in front of his face, "Megumi. The younger sister."

"Those two sisters are never separated," Roy sighed. "If Miss Megumi Mikimoto is coming to Central, then her sister would be following her."

"She said it was just her!"

"No," Riza shook her head, "It's the same Bernard. He kept on telling me about his family and life during one of our dates."

"But the girls lie constantly," Havoc pointed out, "Remember—we all believed that Avery Wilson was an orphan boy until we all found out that it was a girl."

Rebecca sighed, "Were you the one who picked up this information?"

Fuery groaned, "But it was Megumi who called me! I know her voice anywhere and I know when Major Mikimoto fakes her sister's voice."

"No. Fuhrer Grumman just came by a couple of minutes ago to drop of this information."

"She could've gotten better," Breda added.

"Well, do you know where he is, Riza?"

"Dark Night is extremely talented in covert operations. She does anything that she can do to make sure that nobody knows that it's her. We all know that by experience," Roy pointed out.

"No, I don't know where he is."

"I know it's Megumi. She was timid about it."

"Maybe you can talk to him later."

"When's the last time you've even spoken to Megumi Mikimoto?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm ending my relationship with Bernard."

"Umm… a couple of days after the Promised Day."

"You two were never in a relationship, were you?"

"She could've changed. People change quickly, Fuery."

"No. I give up with this, Rebecca. I've been slacking on my work and everything. I need to focus on this Ishval project before this challenge."

"Why don't you guys believe me?"

"You don't have any other men to pair me up with, do you, Rebecca?"

"Because we're dealing with the Mikimoto sisters! If Megumi was in the military with her sister, then who knows what will happen!"

"Huh? Uh… well, I kind of have my own man now."

Fuery sighed.

"You're kidding me right? You actually got someone?"

"I still love her."

"How? You're not even in the challenge, Becca!"

The men were silent.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Thanks Rebecca."

"For what?" She asked. Riza didn't reply to her. Instead, she turned away and walked out of the office. Riza couldn't really hate Bernard for using her; she was pretty much using him so that she could finish off the challenge and win some money. And in return, he was using her to cover up his sexuality. She sighed as she kept on thinking about this on the way back to the office. She needed someone who didn't have secrets or lead a secret life like Bernard. But for now, she needed to focus on her work before the challenge takes over her time. Ishval needs to be rebuilt and things needed to be given back to those who lost the most. She needs to support Colonel Mustang in any form she can. She needed to stay loyal.

When she walked into Colonel Mustang's office, she noticed how all the men were upset and working quietly. She would usually catch them in the act of procrastinating and get upset about it, but this time… it felt like something bad happened. The men usually knew when Riza would come back and always made it as if they were working. "Is there a problem here?" she asked.

"We're all going to die." They all groaned.

* * *

><p><strong>Short chapter, yes I know… but I thought it would be funny if it ended like this… <strong>

**Please review! **

**Res Az**


	8. Surprises

**I just couldn't wait to write this chapter!**

**I don't own the characters or story line or anything regarding Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**I do however own the two annoying, Xingese, devious twin sisters that run amok in Amestris, trying to tell everyone to get Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye together. Yes. You can blame me for all that has happened with them.**

**To the person who requested HavoCat: :)**

**Please review!**

* * *

><p>Chapter Eight: Surprises<p>

April 14, 1916

Fuery wasn't the only person on the team who had a surprise date.

Breda had managed to talk to a woman named Erin Baker. She was a window whose husband was in the military and died during the Promised Day. At first, she was bitter for her husband's death—claiming that it was in vain, but after receiving his benefits from being in the military, she decided that her husband had died for this country. Her husband served with the Briggs forces and the main reason for her bitterness was from living in North City for all this time. She hated it up there, so when the moment came, she moved to Central.

Erin had one child named Henry who was only five years old. Breda came over to her house for dinner that night. Henry, a little red head with freckles splotched on his face, opened the door. "Mr. Breda!" He exclaimed, smiling.

"Hey kiddo," he smiled, picking up the little boy. Erin, dressed in a green housedress and a white apron, came running up to the door. "Hello, Miss Baker," he handed her a bouquet of flowers.

"Hello Mr. Breda," she nodded to him as she took the flowers, "thanks for coming tonight."

"I-It's no problem," he laughed nervously.

Erin turned to her son, "Henry, you shouldn't open the door so quickly. You never know who could be behind that door."

"Yes mommy," Henry immediately said, hiding his face from her. Breda set the little boy down. As soon as he touched the hardwood floors, he bolted for the kitchen.

"Henry!" Erin called out, "Don't run in the house."

"He's a little hyper one," Breda laughed nervously.

Erin nodded, "Yes. Henry is the only part of Thomas that I can still hold onto physically. I love him more than any thing in this world."

Breda smiled, "The boy needs his mother at this time after the death of his father."

It was quiet between Erin and Breda. He didn't know why she was still interested in him. Maybe there was something about him or something about his involvement in the military. The only thing that caused conversations between Erin and Breda was Henry. He came up to Breda with a little toy soldier in his hands. "My friend William made this for me. His dad's an alchemist!"

Breda picked up the toy, "He's an alchemist, huh? Do you want to be an alchemist like William's father?"

Erin answered for the little boy, "Absolutely not. Alchemists are terrible people—always acting like god by creating and destroying things. The military uses alchemists for their dirty work—"

"Miss Baker, the military is going to change the policy on State Alche—"

Erin didn't listen to him. "So my little Henry is going to be…"

"A nice man!" he answered the question. Breda was surprised. He has never seen Erin act this way towards her son. He felt kind of awkward in the situation. Nervously, Breda asked Henry, "Don't you like to be daddy."

He shook his head, "I don't want to kill people." Breda sighed deeply. He could understand the little boy. However, he was only five years old and things can change as time goes on. Breda knew that when he was five, he never dreamed of being an officer in the Amestrian Military.

Once again, it was silent between Breda and Erin. The timer in the kitchen rang. "Oh, I guess dinner is ready. Will you join us Mr. Breda?"

He gulped hard, "Yes, thank you, Miss Baker."

* * *

><p>April 16, 1916<p>

Roy Mustang's problem with women continued on. He had gone through his own personal list of ex-girlfriends that he wouldn't mind hooking up with again for another month and Havoc's list of ex-girlfriends that he would like to steal. All of them had rejected him after the third date or had failed to call him back. Mustang was not happy about this at all. He decided to go on a last resort and call in for some help.

"Hello, Major Mikimoto speaking," the young voice echoed through the receiver.

"Hey, Dark Night," he nervously laughed. "How are things going there at Eastern Command?"

"Well," she paused, "I've managed to get my own team of subordinates after General Haines retired. Thank god," she groaned. The team that Major Mikimoto was transferred in was a change of atmosphere for her. She knew of how some people were discriminatory against women. She didn't realize how racist people were. The former second in command under General Haines was against women and he was racist. He kept on making fun for Major Mikimoto for being a Xingese Woman State Alchemist. Ayame didn't know why she didn't call insubordination on him—he was only a Lieutenant and she was a Major. "Other than that, it's been pretty quiet. How have things in Ishval gone?"

"All right for now," he sighed, "It's still stressful. But this is needed."

"Yes, and my paperwork is needed as well. Could you get to the point?" Mustang sighed. Major Mikimoto was also the Xingese version of Lieutenant Hawkeye. They were both punctual and strict. However, Major Mikimoto's at-ease side was shown more often than Lieutenant Hawkeye's at the office.

"I-I need help," he admitted.

"With what, sir?"

"Ummm…." He bit his lip, hoping that he would never admit this to anyone else. It was bad enough that he was admitting this to his only State Alchemist partially under his command. "See, we had this challenge…"

"Uh huh…"

"And everyone on the team needs to get in a serious relationship for a month before the year ends," he quickly said.

"And if you don't…?"

"We have to pay 50,000 cenz to those who completed it," He left out the part about they had to go kiss Ayame so that she wouldn't get too pissed and it would be a surprise to her. The clause was always hidden and a secret—and it meant death to all if they failed.

"So you're admitting to your only active State Alchemist that you supported that you, Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist and Womanizer of Central can't get a date?" Ayame asked, trying to hold in her laugh.

"Yes," he said bluntly.

"And you've tried getting back with your ex-girlfriends and possibly stealing Havoc's ex-girlfriends?" Ayame snickered, knowing the reaction that Havoc would give if Roy decided to take his ex-girlfriends at any time.

"Yes." Ayame kept on snickering on the other side of the line, "What are you laughing about, Dark Night?"

She stopped laughing, "I'm sorry. It's just that…" She snickered, "Sir, why don't you find someone else new?"

"That takes time and I don't have the time," he argued, "I'm going back to Ishval in June."

"Oooh," Ayame sung, "Are you stopping in East City that time?"

"No." Ayame grumbled a couple words that were inaudible on the telephone. "Lieutenant Hawkeye is coming with me again, though. I wanted her to stay behind but she keeps on insisting she needs to be by my side."

"That's it!" Ayame exclaimed, almost dropping the phone on her side, "Ask Hawkeye."

"No." Roy quickly said.

"Ask Hawkeye."

"No."

"Why?" She exclaimed on the other side of the line. Roy was already getting annoyed with Ayame. Whenever one of them brought up Lieutenant Hawkeye, the conversation usually went to Ayame wondering about any implied relationship between Mustang and Hawkeye, just as she did when they were all stationed at Eastern Headquarters. "Colonel Mustang, you and Lieutenant Hawkeye have been together since you were kids—"

"How did you know about that?" he quickly asked her before she went on.

Ayame was silent. She didn't like to bring up where she really got that information, so instead, she left it vague, "I have my ways sir." A part of her felt sad inside. All her information that she had on Lieutenant Hawkeye and Colonel Mustang were from the same person and were confirmed by the same person. Other people, such as the Fullmetal Alchemist have also confirmed that bit of information, but the direct source was pointed at that person. Talking about him always made people upset when it was supposed to make people feel good. And even though this country is better now, his memory still lives on and the pain still remains. "After that, she pretty much followed you into the military and you two have been together since! I heard from Mei Chang—"

"You finally got to talk to her without trying to kill her?" He joked, poking fun at Ayame's past as one of the supposed bodyguards for Mei.

"Please," she scoffed, "I had to claw out my eye balls right after. Anyways, I heard from her that you told Lieutenant Hawkeye that you were able to read her signal because 'you two have been together for a long time'. Wouldn't that be just right if you two were together forever?"

Roy sighed. Ayame was right and all, but he didn't want to admit that to her. Wherever he went, he always expected Riza to be behind him or somewhere near. It felt normal to him now. "No," he muttered.

"Okay, so you don't mind if I kill her when I come to Central now, do you?"

He gritted his teeth. He hated it when she did that! "Yes, I _would_ mind, Dark Night," he hissed, "And if you do anything to her, you'll be a new kind of Xingese barbecue!"

"If I don't get you first with a little H2O!" She laughed. Roy gritted his teeth. Where was this conversation going anyways? Havoc walked up to Roy's desk to set a new stack of paperwork down. Lieutenant Hawkeye was out at the shooting range at the time and told Havoc to get the new paperwork from the office.

He whispered to Roy, "Who's going to be a new kind of Xingese barbecue?"

"Dark Night," he muttered back.

"What is she doing?"

Roy grumbled, "Being the pain in the ass that we all fear, love and hate." He returned back to the phone, "So are you going to help me or not, Major?"

"Date Hawkeye."

"No."

"Ask Hawkeye."

"No."

"C'mon Colonel! Do you know how many people you would make happy if you did that? I bet half your team is waiting for the day when you finally admit to her that you love her. Fuhrer Grumman is waiting too! He keeps on telling me that you should marry his granddaughter and I think so too! "

He groaned, "Correction Major Mikimoto: no one knows the identity of Fuhrer Grumman."

"Huh? Ahh… Who?" Ayame smiled evilly. She was going to make the biggest discovery yet… if the Colonel would get it. "Oh Kay. Err… Why? Everyone should know who his granddaughter is by now!" Mustang was confused. What the heck did she just ask him? He didn't answer her back and instead, she sighed, "Ask Hawkeye."

"No."

"You're like a little child, sir. I'm trying to help you out here and this is the best idea I have yet. Now I have to go," she muttered. "I'll save you from the Lieutenant's wrath and tell you to get back to work, sir. And remember: pedophilia is strongly frowned upon in Amestris."

He still didn't understand what he meant by her last statement. "Just stay out of trouble, Dark Night."

"You tell me that and yet, you're in a contest to see who can get a girlfriend for a month. I think you should stay out of trouble yourself sir."

He grumbled, "Just don't blow up anything or start a fight with a State Alchemist."

"It was Fullmetal's fa—"Mustang quickly hung up the phone before Ayame finished her statement about the Fullmetal Alchemist and how those two constantly fought whenever they were around. He put his fingers at his temple and started to rub little circles into them. Roy had the worst headache he could possibly imagine and the conversation with Ayame just made it worse. He groaned as he still had another stack of papers to finish along with the surprise stack that came to him at five when he's about the leave for the day. "Havoc, how are things going with you on the challenge?"

Havoc quickly averted his eyes from his commanding officer. He has been seeing one girl lately and things are slowly starting to click in the right places. However, the girl told him not to tell any one about the relationship. She didn't want to draw attention to him and he didn't want to draw attention to her as well. He decided to pull off the best poker face he could, "Not so well. I don't think I'll get a girl some time soon. How about you?"

Roy sighed, shaking his head. He looked at Breda, "Didn't you have a date with Miss Baker a couple of days ago?"

Breda nodded slowly, "It was too awkward. She got on to a heated debate about State Alchemists and the military. Her son is adorable, but I'm not sure if I'm set for children yet," he laughed nervously as he looked at Fuery from across his desk, "And then there is you, Sergeant Fuery."

He laughed nervously. "Three more days guys." The men all groaned, looking down.

"If Dark Night is really going to be here, then we cannot let her know about the other part of the challenge," Roy pointed out, "I already told her the first part of it, but I left out the details about the punishment."

Breda muttered, "We don't want to die early." Fuery was very sure that it was going to be Megumi and her only at the train station in three days. He wanted to prove it to his coworkers but he didn't have a good way of showing it… until he realized…

"Sir," Fuery gulped hard, "Did Major Mikimoto say anything about coming to Central this weekend?"

Roy sighed deeply, "Fuery, could you forget about the problem for a moment? We all know that Miss Megumi does not travel anywhere without her sister."

"But did Major Mikimoto say anything about coming to Central?" He pressed on.

Roy tried to remember the conversation. He could only bring up the provocative things that Dark Night had said to him such as 'date Lieutenant Hawkeye' and the awkward question she asked him. Then it dawned on him that she threatened to "kill" Lieutenant Hawkeye just to get him pissed off when she came back to Central. However, she didn't state when she was coming. "She did say something about hurting a certain somebody when she came here," he murmured. Roy didn't want to harm the young Sergeant Major in any way. After hearing that, Fuery started to sweat nervously. He started to think to himself, _you know what? I don't care if Major Mikimoto is going to be there. I need to overcome this irrational fear of her—she's just a couple of years younger than me and the only thing that I'm afraid of is her anger. I can deal with that. It will be like another boarder war… only a lot closer. _He stopped acting so nervous and stood up straight. His eyes changed from a fearful glance to a determined one as he walked back to his chair. _I will see Megumi on Saturday and Major Mikimoto cannot stop me._

* * *

><p>April 18, 1916<p>

Once it hit 5 P.M., Havoc rose from his chair and started gathering his things together. He couldn't believe that he got his paper work done in time tonight, but then again, he couldn't believe the reward that was waiting for him tonight. He pulled on his jacket as Lieutenant Hawkeye looked up. "Are you going somewhere, Lieutenant Havoc?" she asked coldly. He froze, thinking that there might be another hidden stack of paper work that she hid. There was always one for Colonel Mustang, but the thought of one for him now? Havoc chanted in his mind that there wouldn't be a new stack.

He gulped hard, "I have an old buddy coming over from the west."

"Nice!" Breda smiled, "Is it James?"

They don't know anything about it… "Yup," Havoc nodded. Let's go with that, he thought.

"Tell him I said hi—if he remembers me," Breda pointed out.

Havoc nodded as Colonel Mustang waved him off. "You're dismissed." He saulted quickly, turned towards the door and headed out with a happy beat into his step. As soon as his trotting was no longer heard from the hallway, the subordinates started talking again.

"Colonel, are you aware of this?" Lieutenant Hawkeye asked, "He's not blowing off work for another girl for the challenge?"

Roy shook his head, "I'm afraid not. He seemed pretty confident in meeting up with his friend."

Riza leaned back into her chair. Havoc has met his friends from the military academy and school before, but he wasn't usually this happy. She decided to throw the thoughts away. She knew that if she got behind with this paperwork or if she had to stay behind because of Colonel Mustang, she wouldn't mind; Rebecca was also out on a date with her mysterious man.

Rebecca Catalina checked the two pizzas in her oven. She was kind of excited for this date tonight. Even though her and the mysterious man weren't planning to go out for a fancy dinner or a stroll through the park, she knew that being with him, things would be okay. They could drink all they wanted to and then sleep it off in the morning. They could find happiness in the simple things—which was always good for a soldier like Rebecca—and so little dates weren't too hard to come up with. She heard a knock at the door and quickly ran up to it. "Hey, you finally made it!"

Jean Havoc smiled, "I was afraid Lieutenant Hawkeye was going to pull out a surprise stack of papers on me." He gave Rebecca a tight hug before setting the two six packs of beer on her living room coffee table. "I didn't know what kind of beer you like, so I just go what ever I thought would be good."

Rebecca laughed, "Okay, but if it tastes like crap, we have a lot more in the fridge." Havoc and Rebecca started dating two weeks ago after their little challenge in the shooting range. At the bar, Rebecca and Havoc got drunk out of their minds and secrets were released one after another. Rebecca found out that Havoc doesn't really hate her or anything; he's a little jealous that she gets to work with the Fuhrer. Rebecca revealed that she wished that she worked underneath Colonel Mustang because she believes that he wouldn't grope her constantly unlike Fuhrer Grumman. She also told Havoc that the healthy competition between them was very "sexy" to her and she missed it when he lost his legs.

In the end, they both realized that they had said that and in order to make things less awkward, they started dating. They put their indifferences aside and since then, the relationship has been going well. Rebecca, however, had forgotten about the challenge and Havoc has thrown it aside to focus on his work and on her.

Rebecca grabbed the pizzas from the oven, cut them and set them on the coffee table in front of Havoc. He scoffed, "You actually cooked something, Bec."

She punched him playfully on the thigh, "Shut up. I actually made the pizza instead of calling for it."

"You can call pizza to come to you?" he joked with her. Once again, she punched him, but this time it was at his side. Her knuckles felt sore as she came in contact with his abs. The best quality of military men according to Rebecca were the abs. Almost everyone in the military was in shape and they were pretty much men with god-complexes protecting the country.

"Jean!" She exclaimed as he grabbed her wrists and pulled them up over her head. "You better not be staring at my breasts—"

A shiver went up his spine. He really didn't care about how big of a rack a woman has; ever since the encounter with Lust, he has blamed himself for dating a… homunculus like her and because of that, he temporarily lost the use of his legs. Havoc had changed in those times. He was now looking at women for their personality. He liked Rebecca's personality the best; she can be playful at times and aggressive. She always keeps the conversation boring. "I'm not. Jeez, I'm not the same man you knew in East," He grumbled as his other hand came up to her sides. She started to squirm, trying to get out of his grip.

She kicked his side a couple times, "Don't you dare, Jean!"

"I don't make any promises," he smirked as he started to tickle her side. Rebecca squeaked at his touch, but then started laughing uncontrollaby. "I heard a rumor that Lieutenant Hawkeye is ticklish in the same place."

He stopped tickling her as she groaned, "Yeah. Fuhrer Grumman pokes her there when ever she's visiting us." She looked up at him as he let go of her wrists, "You didn't know about that until now? I swore I thought Colonel Mustang did that to her."

"He has barely touched her in all the years they've been together," Havoc sighed as he was now sitting next to Rebecca.

"They've been together for so long…" Rebecca murmured, "Don't you think they should get together at some point?"

Havoc combed his fingers through his hair, sighing deeply, "I think that's what Major Mikimoto was talking to the chief about." Rebecca's eye brow rose, "He kept on saying, 'No' over and over again two days ago when he called her for help."

"Help?"

Havoc smirked, "With getting girls. It was pretty funny to be in there listening to what he told her." He sighed again, sitting back on the couch.

"Long day?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Havoc moved his head down to kiss her knuckles.

"I've had worst."

* * *

><p>April 19, 1916<p>

Fuery quickly got out of his military issued car, knowing that he was slightly late for the train to arrive. This was it—the moment when Fuery would see if it was Megumi all by herself or if it was Ayame following right behind her. He was thinking if he should climb the steps or just wait by the car, but holding on to his gut feeling that it was Megumi alone that was going to be here, he decided to climb the steps leading to the station and meet her on the platform. He kept his head down as he did so, only stopping when he heard, "Kain?"

He looked up and smiled.

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><p><strong>God, this chapter got longer than I expected! Oh well… I guess the chapters will be longer now! YAY MORE TEAM MUSTANG! <strong>

**Please review! I like them!**

**Oh, and well.. more things were supposed to happen in this chapter but I guess they're going to happen in the NEXT ONE!**


	9. Unanswered Questions

**A/N: A third of the epic Resident Asian Royai Trio will be represented in this chapter. You're welcome.**

**I don't own FMA. I own Ayame and Megumi Mikimoto along with their childhood friend, Dr. Lee Hui who Megumi, along with trying to get Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye together, is trying to get her sister together with him. SPOILERS YEAH.**

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><p>Chapter Nine: Unanswered Questions<p>

April 19, 1916 – Central Train Station

Her heart started to flutter as soon as the train stopped at the station. She kept on staring out the window to see if she saw any one familiar. She saw a couple of MPs walking around with their dogs. A part of her died inside as she slowly slumped in her seat. She waited and watched as people started to grab their belongings from the shelf above their heads. She peeked out of the window again and watched those people hug family members and friends on the platform. "Time to go," she whispered to herself as she rose from her seat and fixed her clothes. She grabbed the suitcase and hat underneath her seat. She brushed off the dirt on the hat then set it on top of her head. She slowly made her way through the aisle and off the train. "Have a nice time in Central, ma'am," one of the workers said to her. She nodded slowly, smiling sweetly.

She walked a couple steps away from the train. She couldn't find anyone familiar around here. She hoped that he would come around. She reached up to her hat and pulled the brim of it down as she looked down at her feet and started to walk towards the exit. As the sunlight hit her face, she decided to look up. When she saw a young soldier running up the steps below her, she smiled, "Kain?"

The soldier was also looking down as he climbed up. At the moment she called his name, he looked up and smiled at her. The wind started to pick up and her hat was carried by the wind. She tried to run as fast as she could to grab the hat, but her choice in footwear was not the best and the hat flew to one side of the steps. The soldier decided to book it and grab the white hat before it went over the train tracks. He jumped up to grab the hat, but almost ran into a little child while doing it. He hesitated and watched the hat fall on top of a man walking up the steps.

The man stopped for a moment as he took the hat off, "Is this yours, sir?"

"I-It's my friend's," he gulped as the man handed it to him, "Thank you."

The man nodded as he continued up his way to the steps. Fuery walked back to her, now with the hat, trying to calm his emotions down. When the two met, she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. "I was afraid your sister was going to be with you!" He told her as he set the hat on her head.

"I told you that she didn't want to take leave to do this," she laughed at him. Fuery examined the girl. When they last met, her short, pixie cut brown hair was pulled into a high pony tail and some of the scars on the back of her neck were shown. Now her hair was set down and her bangs were pinned back by small clips at the side of her head. Her sweet, endearing smile was calming to him. At least she was scowling at him like she was before. She wore a light blue dress with a white long sleeved cardigan and sandals. She was beautiful.

She took a couple of steps away from him, "You don't look any different, Kain."

"Y-You look beautiful," he managed to say, causing her face to become red.

"Uh… thanks?" she said, confused and unsure on what to say. She turned to pick up her suitcase when Fuery came around her and picked it up for her. She turned bitter, "You don't have to help me with that, Fuery. I can carry it on my own." He glanced at her slender arms. Looks can be deceiving; he already knew by now that she can easily kill a person even if she has the demeanor of an innocent girl.

"I just want to help," he murmured to her.

She sighed deeply, "Well, okay. I can't blame you for that." Fuery smiled at her and as a return, she smiled back. He led her to the car, offering his arm for her to grab on. She denied his request, claiming that she was okay with everything.

"How was the train ride?" he asked as he stuck the suitcase in the back seat.

"It was nice," she got inside the front seat of the car. Fuery really wanted to show to her that he could still be the kind person that he was when they first met. She didn't doubt that he was still the kind person, but he felt like he wanted to win her over. "Aya usually hates train rides."

He started up the car, "I could understand that. You never know what's really going to happen on the train when you're riding it. And that moment, you don't have enough control of the situation."

She grumbled, "Well, actually, every time Aya takes a train to somewhere, she needs to keep herself occupied or else she gets really bored and she starts to test her alchemy on the train." She shivered, "It can get dangerous, but in the last couple times we rode the train, Aya has learned a new ability with her alchemy."

Fuery was nervous to ask her about Major Mikimoto's alchemy. After the Promised Day, Major Mikimoto became the youngest active State Alchemist. She could easily be the most powerful State Alchemist in the military as her alchemic field keeps on evolving as she discovers more abilities. He remembers when she could only knock out the lights and sees perfectly in a completely dark. Before they went their separate ways, Major Mikimoto could make her shadow move in three dimensions like the homunculus Pride (yet not as scary.) "What was it?"

"Her shadows can create indestructible weapons," she smiled, "She created a sword that can slice through the thickest piece of metal. The good part is that her weapons can merge back into her shadow and so nobody else can get those weapons." She called that a good thing?

Fuery tightened his grip on the steering wheel, "Well. That should be helpful." He decided to change the topic, "W-Where do I need to take you again?"

She took out a pocket watch from her cardigan pocket. She opened it up, "I-I don't know. I think Lee is working—"

"Oh," Fuery looked back at her, "Where does he work?"

"He's an alkahestric doctor in the hospital here in Central," she started explaining, "The first of his kind. It's kind of exciting, but anyways… he's getting transferred to East City at the end of the summer."

"How did you guys get to know him?"

She sighed, "He's my sister's best friend. We were banned from seeing him when we were kids because his family and our family had to guard rival families and one day, my father and his grandfather decided to have them fight to the death. They couldn't do it. We were taught to not make friends and that's what pretty much happened." A smirk rose, "You know, I haven't always been trying to get Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye together… I'm also trying to get my sister with him."

Fuery's eyes widened. Major Mikimoto hooking up with someone? The image was burning in his mind, "W-Wait, why?"

She shrugged her shoulders, smiling, "He kissed her once, but she punched him in the face. I think he still holds some feelings for her." Fuery looked at her with sincerity, "And Aya has done so much for me. I need to do something for her for once."

"Y-Yeah," Fuery gulped, realizing that he was in the same position as the sisters' best friend. "Y-You won't mind if I take you to the office, do you?" She bit her lip nervously. She never liked being with the military men for fears that they might deport her for being a Xingese in Amestris. However, whenever she was with Fuery, she felt safe with him. She still wasn't sure with Colonel Mustang as every time she had seen him, her sister was usually in front of her. Fuery put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry Megumi, I will protect you."

When Fuery and Megumi walked into the office, the team all decided to stop what they were doing and watch her come in. "Hello," she smiled, tilting her head one way.

Havoc was the first one to open his mouth, "I can't believe it. Your sister isn't here!"

Breda grumbled, "I don't know Havoc, she could be hiding behind her with her invisible ability. Or we could be looking at the Major herself in a disguise to look like her sister."

Megumi glared at them. "I can't believe you guys are saying that! I'm Megumi Mikimoto, not Major Ayame Mikimoto." She folded her arms across her chest, "I'm not flat chested like her and she wouldn't be wearing a dress unless she lost a bet and had to wear one!" Fuery softly chuckled. That was Megumi. Only she would say something like that about her sister. She rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips, "If you don't believe me, call her number at Eastern Command! I bet she'll answer the phone."

Havoc chuckled, "Okay, okay, Miss Megumi. I believe you. I was just teasing you—y'know?" She still rolled her eyes as she shook her head furiously.

"So you were telling the truth, Sergeant Fuery," Colonel Mustang said as he picked up his pen, "Sorry about before."

Fuery didn't know how to answer that, "Uh, thank you sir." Megumi made her way up to Lieutenant Hawkeye's desk. The girls were always in good terms with the cold Lieutenant; they often got to see her softer side as she saw them the same way she saw the Elric brothers. She smiled, "Hello Lieutenant Hawkeye."

"Hello Miss Megumi," she replied, keeping her eyes on the paper she was reading, "How are you?"

"I'm good," Megumi nodded, "You?"

"The same. It's different not hearing your sister talking all the time."

Megumi laughed nervously, "I know. I miss her already. We've never been apart."

"Isn't it more like you've never been apart from her?" she asked. Megumi turned red. She realized that she gave away one of the selling points of Megumi and Ayame. They were technically twin sisters, but the military and the government believe that Ayame is two years older than Megumi. She said that she was two years older so she could enter the military and complete the State Alchemist program.

"Yeah!" Megumi nodded excessively, "Hey, my sister wanted to ask you something—"

"No, Megumi," Colonel Mustang grumbled. He already knew what Ayame was going to ask the Lieutenant. It was obvious. "And neither have I."

"Dammit," she cursed under her breath, "You just ruined all the fun, Colonel."

"Tell her I'm sorry and if she asks again, I told her "no"." Megumi's shoulders slumped over. She really wanted to ask the most obvious question of them all. She never got the chance to do so. Every time it was Ayame who asked or it was the two of them together.

Fuery took Megumi to Dr. Lee's apartment at about 5 PM. He bought her lunch at the mess hall and she left in the afternoon to go on a walk. She knew her way around Central if she stayed close to the military headquarters. She changed out of her dress for a white mini-skirt and a baby blue halter-top. She kept her white cardigan on and the white hat. They arrived at the apartment. Megumi knocked on the door and was immediately introduced to a muscular man. His hair was greasy and messy and his body odor was easily smelt from the end of the hall. He was intimidating to her, "What do you want kid?"

"U-Uhh…" she took a step back, "Does Dr. Lee live here…?"

"Next floor kid," he slammed the door in face. Megumi stood there, shaking in fear as Fuery came up to her and put an arm around her shoulder.

"It's okay, you didn't know," he smiled at her.

She nodded and tried to shake the fear off, "Y-Yeah." A tall man wearing thin frame glasses came walking around. He had black hair and black eyes—a typical trait of Xingese. He had a white lab coat underneath his gray sweater vest and matching slacks. He smiled at her, "Hey Megumi, you look different now!"

"Lee," she smiled at him, "Hey. It's about time I've seen you again. This is my friend, Sergeant Fuery. He used to work with Aya."

"Aya is in the State Military now?" he laughed before switching to Xingese, "She could never really stay out of trying to defend people… and falling out of trees." The two Xingese adults laughed. Lee invited the two into his apartment. He switched to Amestrian, and to the amazement of Fuery, he spoke it as fluent as Major Mikimoto did when she first came here. "I'm sorry for the confusion about the apartment. I got a nicer one upstairs about a week after I called your sister."

"That makes sense then," Megumi acknowledged, "Did you find a place yet in East City?"

Lee shook his head, "Nah, but I could crash at your place for awhile, couldn't I?"

"Talk to Ayame about that," Megumi grumbled.

Lee's apartment was mostly brown with hardwood floors and paneling. He didn't have much in the living space. There was only a couch in the living room with a couple stacks of papers mixed with boxes. His kitchen was immaculate except for a pot or two on the counter. His dining room table was littered with more paper, "Sorry about the mess. Could I get you guys something to drink?"

They both denied the offer. "So, Sergeant Fuery, how long have you been in the military?"

"Ever since I got out of high school," he took out one of the chairs at the table and motioned Megumi to sit down, but she shook her head and set her suitcase on the ground.

"What's your specialty?"

"Communications."

Lee took off his lab coat and grabbed a glass of water, "That's nice. Megumi—what did you say Aya specialized in?"

"Being a badass," she rolled her eyes, "but technically she's a State Alchemist and that's her main specialty. Other than that, it's covert operations."

"Didn't she say something about being the 'Ninja in the Military'?" Megumi nodded as Lee laughed loudly, "Yup, that's Aya for you." He faced Fuery, "She was a great fighter as a kid and had a knack for falling out of trees." He winked at Megumi who shook her head, rolling her eyes.

After a couple of hours, Fuery decided to head home. Megumi took him downstairs to the door, leaving Lee to finish up his paperwork.

"Thanks for everything. I'll call you at home if I need anything else, okay?"

He nodded slowly, "Uh-Uh, yeah. See you later Megumi." He gave her another tight hug before heading out the door.

"Don't worry about me too much Kain," she smirked, "Lee is a great person and he's Aya's and my best friend. If you think you should rescue me sometime, don't be afraid to call before hand, okay?" She slipped him a piece of paper that had Lee's phone number on it. "Other than that, I'm leaving on Tuesday. If you want to take me to the station again since Lee will be out for work again…"

"Yeah!" He immediately said. Megumi chuckled, smiling at him.

"All right, Tuesday it is." He gave her another hug and headed out the door. As he climbed into his car, his heart started to slow down. He was in love with her again.

He wasn't sure if Lee was someone that Megumi would want to try out. She did mention to him that she was trying to get him and Major Mikimoto together, but maybe it was just to hide the fact that she likes him as well. No, he couldn't think that. Megumi wasn't like that kind of person to do that to him. Though, she just told him that if he believed that he should rescue her, and then he should call her.

She was sneaky like her sister but she wasn't as harsh as she could be.

All that Fuery could do was smile.

* * *

><p>May 9, 1916<p>

"Rebecca, I need to ask you something." She slowly looked up at Jean Havoc as he slowly took a deep breath. The two of them were just sitting in the park to get some fresh air after another night drinking together. Unlike the other nights when they went drinking, they weren't as drunk tonight. They both had to head to work tomorrow morning and so there wasn't time for them to sleep off the terrible hangovers that they usually had. "I love you."

"That wasn't a question, Jean," she smirked at him, folding her arms across her chest. She laughed slightly before telling him, "I love you too, but what were you going to tell me?"

He pulled her into a tight hug, pressing his lips against hers. She has kissed him before, but nothing like this. There was more passion in the kiss than before. And Havoc was sober. He wasn't buzzed or drunk at all. Rebecca knew that he meant it. He meant the kiss. He looked into her eyes after the kiss, catching his breath, "Rebecca Catalina…" he mused, "I want to be serious with you—will you be my girlfriend?"

She couldn't say no to that anymore.

* * *

><p>The same night, Riza had decided to walk home instead of take Roy's offer to drive her home. She walked at night with a free hand ready to grab her gun. It was about 10 PM when she left Headquarters and it usually took her half an hour to get there. However, that half an hour meant crossing through shady alleys and back roads. This time, she was going through the sidewalks of Central underneath the dimmed oil lamps. This would take her an extra fifteen minutes, but it was a safe extra fifteen minutes.<p>

This also meant that she would cross a popular bar. As she got closer, she gripped her gun in its holster and pulled it over to her side. She doesn't know what could happen out here and she kept on thinking "better safe than sorry."

"Hey!" The man that Megumi ran into when trying to look for Lee was standing outside the bar with a couple of friends. They were all drunk, constantly losing balance every now and then. Riza wanted to get to the other side of the sidewalk, but it had to be tonight where they poured in the fresh concrete for the new sidewalk on the other side. She clicked the safety off her gun. Better safe than sorry.

As she walked by, a couple of fox whistles and hoots were given to her. "Heeeyy babbayyy!" One of the men outside called as he tried to reach for her. Riza quickly maneuvered away from him, spinning on one heel and continuing her way down the sidewalk. The man that Megumi ran into came up to her and whipped her around.

"Little mouse," his breath smelt like beer, "Don't be afraid. I'm just here to get a closer look." Riza pulled her knee up and kneed him in the nuts, causing him to double over. She didn't hesitate to run, but as the cape of her pants flew up, he reached out and grabbed her. Pulling her back, her face rubbed up against the concrete.

"Let's do it guys!" One of the men chanted as he put her in a lock hold. Riza started screaming, trying to grab attention to any one in the city. She tried to kick him where best fit, but couldn't get a good place. The man was two times bigger than her—he was almost the size of Armstrong!

They walked into the alley behind the bar where no light shined.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I like doing these cliff hangers. :) However, I kind of suck at them... **

**Please review! **


	10. A Month and a Day

**ROYAI CHAPTER HERE WE GO!**

**I don't own FMA. If I did, this would be CANON BITCHES!**

**Chapter Ten: A Month and a Day**

* * *

><p>May 9, 1916<p>

A couple of minutes earlier—

Roy Mustang was pulled into another hallway by another person. He watched as his Lieutenant walked down the hallway in front of him while wondering who the hell would still be at work at 9:45 PM. He turned around; ready to attack the person who pulled him in when he saw that it was Fuhrer Grumman. "Hello Colonel!" He said, smiling at him and putting a hand up. Roy took a deep breath. He thought it was another General that was jealous of his rank and his actions as Colonel. He also thought it was Major Mikimoto popping up to ask him if he asked Lieutenant Hawkeye yet.

"Your Excellency, what are you doing here this late?" he asked. He knew that the Fuhrer lived somewhere around here, but he never thought of a Fuhrer reporting back to his office.

"Ohohoho," Grumman laughed, "I left my chess board in my office and I came to pick up. One of my bodyguards wants to learn how to play chess, so I told him that I could teach him! However, unlike you," he nudged his elbow into Roy's side. He winced in pain as Grumman had picked the side where he burned himself. "But I wanted to see how things were going for you."

Mustang blankly stared at Grumman. This was very weird place to ask him a question like that. He sighed, "It's going well. Paperwork is still a pain."

Grumman laughed again, "How about that Lieutenant of yours?"

"Havoc is doing well with getting up and around—"

"No, no," Grumman was laughing still, "Lieutenant Hawkeye."

He sighed, "She's fine, sir. We're going to head back to Ishval at the end of the month."

Grumman smiled sincerely, "You can't really leave her behind, eh Colonel?"

"It isn't that," Mustang started to explain; "She _insists_ that she come with me in the first couple months of the reconstruction project."

Grumman nodded in approval, "I can see where she's going. The two of you were pretty infamous in Ishval during the war. She would really do anything to make sure you're safe." Mustang, without a doubt, would do the same. Ever since the Promised Day, he has been holding in guilt from witnessing Hawkeye getting her throat slit. He hasn't felt as useless until he saw that. Not even a rainy day could give him the same feeling he felt. And now he held a promise inside to protect Riza without any hesitation. He could make her life easier instead of harder. "Speaking of Lieutenant Hawkeye," Grumman pushed his glasses up his nose, "let's talk about women." Mustang smiled at that. Even as Fuhrer, Grumman was still the same to him, "How are the ladies here in Central?"

Roy laughed nervously, "They're wonderful. However, I haven't gotten any of them to stay with me for awhile since the Promised Day. I thought the women would like a knight in shining armor."

Grumman laughed, "Oh, I taught you well, Colonel. But what about my granddaughter? As the only family that I have and along with her, I would really like to see her married someday—or at least happy with the man she loves. I want great-grandchildren. She's my only granddaughter and I'm willing to do anything for her to be happy." He had an evil smile on his face, but Roy didn't catch it as a devious smile. He brushed it off as if Grumman was brimming with happiness. He always liked to talk about his granddaughter, but Grumman never mentions her first name. Roy had believed that he was protecting her from some of the people in the military but after while; he began to think that Grumman wanted him to figure out who it was. Though in all the conversations where Grumman's mysterious granddaughter was brought up, Grumman hasn't said any codes or signals that reveal the identity of his granddaughter. "Do you have any leads on who it is?" Mustang shook his head, trying to fight off a yawn. Grumman sighed, "Oh really? I have zero anticipation for you then." Roy's eye brows furled. Now it was clear that Grumman wanted him to find out who his granddaughter was. He patted his shoulder, "I'll let you go your own ways now. Good night Colonel."

He saluted, "Good night, Your Excellency."

Roy climbed into his car with the Fuhrer's opinion about his granddaughter replaying over his head. He still didn't understand why Grumman didn't tell anyone about the name of his granddaughter. He tried to remember the contents of his desk at Eastern Command. There was a picture of a young woman with blonde hair holding a baby, but that image looked so dated and old that Roy believed that it was his wife's image with their daughter. He also started to recall the conversation he had with the Fuhrer concerning Lieutenant Hawkeye and Ishval. Just by that, he realized that she walked home by herself in the dark. And knowing her for so long, he knew that she wouldn't be taking any shortcuts tonight.

He pulled out of Central Command and rolled down his windows to let the stuffy, hot air out of the car. He went down the fastest way to get to Riza's apartment by foot. As there was nobody driving that night, he kept the pace slow and scanned the streets for anyone wearing a military uniform. He wanted to make sure that she was okay. The last thing he needed was her stuck in a sticky situation where he would need to intervene. However, Roy was ready to intervene if he had to. At a stop light, he pulled the glove compartment of his car and checked the handgun that was hidden in there. Roy didn't want to use alchemy if he had to—he was afraid of hurting Riza again. However, if he had to use it… he will.

A high pitch scream caught his attention. He could see about two blocks away a group of men moving to an alley next to a bar. He saw someone as big as Major Armstrong pick up someone as it was kicking and trying to grab attention to someone. He watched as they stuffed a dirty towel in the person's mouth to muffle the screams. Roy drove faster, seeing that he could help the person there. The men looked sketchy and drunk and as he got closer the shape of the person's head started to get clearer. His eyes widened when he realized who it was.

Roy stuck his head out the window to get a better look. It was her all right and now his heart was racing to get to her side. He found a parking spot about half a block away. Roy decided to grab his gun from the glove compartment and run as fast as he could down to the bar. Once reaching the mouth of the alley, he noticed that it was completely black inside. He could hear the men shuffling around and Riza's muffled screams in the darkness. To calm himself, he took a deep breath before stepping in the alleyway. He heard someone throw something on a wooden crate, causing it to break. Then something hit a metal pole and a couple punches were dealt. The scuffing of shoes against the concrete ground entered the silence along with grunts and screams. "You bastards…" he grumbled underneath his breath as his eyes got used to the darkness. He came across another alley opening made by three buildings connected together. The men were all surrounded by one thing in the circle; one had a pipe and was constantly lifting it up and slamming it down to the thing in the circle; a group of three was kicking; and another group was punching the ground.

A growl ripped through Roy's teeth, "What the fuck are you doing to my Lieutenant?" The seven men turned towards him, revealing a beaten up and bloodied Riza Hawkeye. She blinked a couple of times to make out the image of her Colonel standing at the mouth of the second alley. No, she thought, why did you come here? Roy raised his arm, revealing his gun. Clicking the safety off, he growled, "Do anything else to her and I'll shoot you!"

The Armstrong-size man smirked before running as fast as he could to punch Roy in the face. He dropped down to his knees and made his way past him. The Armstrong-size man turned to punch him behind the head, but Roy predicted that perfectly and turned to block him. The other six men decided to join in with the fight, giving Roy a handful to fight with. Riza watched as he tried to protect her. But the whole time, she had to wonder why? Why did Roy want to protect her? Shouldn't it have been the other way around? Once again, she felt like a burden to him just as she felt on the Promised Day. She believed that it was her fault that Roy was blinded by Truth. If they didn't force him to open the Gate, then things would've been different. She would've been dead, but she was willing to die for him anyways.

He maneuvered his way past the other group to get a closer look at Riza. He punched one man in the gut before knocking him out by grabbing the pole on the ground and slamming it at the back of his head. He turned around and whacked another person with the same pole in the stomach, causing them to double over. Roy clapped his hands together and created a couple of knives to pin people down with. One of them decided to ambush him from behind, but Roy dropped to the ground and rolled over, managing to pin him to the ground with the man's hand as the medium. The Armstrong-sized man came to throw Roy to the wall, but he clappedd his hands once again and touched the ground.

The Armstrong-sized man was encased in a concrete cage where he rattled around in and demanded to be let go. The men stopped in their tracks, realizing who they were dealing with. In fear, they all ran away, screaming things such as, "I'm going to die!" and "I'm getting the fuck out of here!"

Roy slowly walked up to Riza. She started to cough up blood which caused him to rush over to her side. He slowly brought her up to a sitting stance, grabbing the towel out of her mouth. There was a scar underneath her left eye that was bleeding and a road burn on her face along with a couple of scars on her arms. After cutting the rope that they tied her hands with, he took off her military jacket to examine the damage. There were a couple of bruises, but he couldn't see how many there were or how big they were. "H-how did you know it was me?" She managed to ask.

"I heard you scream," he murmured, putting an arm around her lower back to give her support, "Can you walk?"

"May-Maybe," she shivered in the cold. Roy pulled off his black jacket and draped it over his Lieutenant's shoulders. He helped her get off the ground, but as she rose, her knees gave way and she fell into his arms. "Sorry, sir," she murmured.

"No, it's okay." Roy lifted Riza up bridal style before putting her on his back as if they were giving each other piggy rides. She rested her hands on his shoulders, keeping her face out of his messy black hair. He hoisted her up, holding on to the back of her knees. He walked out of the alley, smiling, "It kind of reminds you of those days when I was studying under your father and you didn't want to walk around in the kitchen because of that really big spider you saw."

Riza laughed softly, recalling the memory, "Yeah. B-But I could've gotten up on my own."

He groaned, "Too late now. Besides, it's not like any one at work is going to find us like this. It's 10:30, Riza." Usually, Riza would be a little bothered when her superior officer called her by her first name, but ever since the Promised Day and the two of them were in the hospital together, things have changed. For one, Roy always called Riza by her first name when work was over and it was just the two of them. Riza had told Roy that she would do the same, but he hasn't heard her call him by his first name since that promise was made.

Riza rest her chin on his shoulder, "Thanks." She whispered. Roy looked at her, causing her to raise her head higher than his shoulder to make it look like she wasn't resting on top of it. Thank god it was still dark in the alley as he would've easily seen her blushing.

"How did you get in that mess in the first place?" Roy asked. The two of them were now on the sidewalk and he could now see the damage easily. Riza told him what happened to her, and ended up finishing her story when they were at the car. He loaded her in the front seat before running to the other side and getting in. He stored his unused gun in the glove compartment before turning on the car and driving to Riza's apartment. She was amazed that he still remembered where the apartment was by only telling him the address. When she asked him about it, he only replied, "I grew up in Central. I know my way around here."

"Where did you go after work?" she asked, "I heard you get grabbed by someone."

Roy kept his eyes on the road, "Fuhrer Grumman decided to have a short chat with me."

"Oh," she simply said, "W-What did you talk about?"

He sighed, combing his fingers through his hair, "Nothing important. Just things about Ishval and how things were going on with you now that you're back in my command," Riza looked down. She wondered why Grumman would bring her up like that. She put her hands together, rubbing them to keep her mind occupied on something, "And he brought up his granddaughter again," she shot a look at him. Roy slowly looked at her with a confused face, "D-Do you know who she is?"

Riza sighed. Grumman strictly told her to not tell Roy who his granddaughter was; however, her expression gave away her feelings about Grumman's granddaughter. "You're looking right at her."

Roy pressed on the brakes, causing both of them to lunge forward. He exclaimed, "You're Grumman's granddaughter?"

She groaned. Rebecca had the exact same reaction when Grumman told her. "Yeah, I didn't know about it until he rose to Fuhrer." She leaned against the back of the seat, "He's my grandfather on my mother's side. It makes sense that I didn't know much about him."

Roy blankly stared at Riza. When their eyes met, he looked away and continued driving. Grumman's reasons for making his granddaughter happy now made sense. He was gone for the majority of RIza's life and now that he's around, he feels some regret for what happened to her. Now he was going to try to make her life better and he would do anything to make it so. Then it dawned on him; would he flex the fraternization laws just so she could… Roy threw that thought out of the window. There was no way that she held any feelings for him. Underneath the women and the manipulation, Roy did have some feeling but he couldn't let the world know that, now could he? He thought of the reactions that everyone would have. Hughes would be ecstatic from above, Major Mikimoto and her sister would definitely be partying in the streets, and for his men? He predicted that Havoc would get pissed for all the times he stole his girlfriends but he was the only person that he imagined to have a negative reaction. Fuery was probably already "tainted" with the ideals coming from the Mikimoto sisters. Riza started to talk again, "He likes to code my name into different things he says. I've noticed him doing so when you were talking to him last week. And I believe that Dark Night has done the same a couple of times."

He tried to recall the conversation he had with Grumman. He could try to remember what he said word for word, but it never came out perfectly. Then he remembered the awkward statement that he told her, "Really, I have zero anticipation then." He started to break it down and at the same time, he realized what Dark Night had asked him on the phone when it came up to Grumman's granddaughter.  
>"It makes sense then," he muttered to himself.<p>

When Roy didn't take a turn that would take them around a block and head to Riza's apartment, she asked him, "Sir where are we going?"

"My apartment," he simply stated as if it was nothing out of the usual, "I have some things to clean up your scars with—"

"But sir," she argued, "I'm fine."

He reached into his pocket, taking out his State Alchemist pocket watch and handkerchief. He handed it out to her, "You're bleeding on your face." Riza slowly lifted up her hand and touched her cheek. She removed her fingers and looked at the crimson dots on her white skin. She was surprised that she was beat up that badly. She took the handkerchief and pressed it on her face. She noticed that little dark marks were made on her pants. She didn't feel the blood streaming down her face, but now that she realized that, she couldn't feel her fingers as she pressed them into her cheek.

When they got to the apartment, Riza was expecting it to be as bad as a mess it was when she brought him home after he was discharged from the hospital. Surprisingly, it was almost as clean as hers except for the pile of newspaper on his dining table and random pieces of clothing draped around couches and chairs. "Sorry about the mess," he said as he helped her into the apartment. The two of them helped each other get to the couch where Riza was instructed to sit back for awhile and relax. Roy walked back into the kitchen to get a kettle started. Riza slowly took off his black jacket and found the horrors of the bruises on her arms.

Roy came back, "Damn, they got me well," Riza muttered as she tried to move her upper arms around, but found that they were screaming in pain. She yelped a bit when she tried to move her left shoulder. Her left shoulder was always the sensitive one compared to the right arm from implications during the Promised Day. There were days where the pain came back and she would usually have to rotate and stretch her arm out to get rid of the kink, but this time, the pain was more intense than before.

"What's wrong?" he asked, kneeling in front of her.

She started to move it back and forth, but it was just as worse, "My shoulder. I think they threw me on this side and so it started acting up. It's nothing too bad."

He shook his head, "It's from the Promised Day, isn't it?"

"No, sir," she tried to sound like it didn't matter to her.

He put a hand on her shoulder, "This is the shoulder that Envy got, isn't it?" His fingers trailed up to her neck where the scar from when they slit her throat started. He stopped, looking away from her and closing his eyes. "Dammit," He clenched his free fist.

"Sir, calm down," she said.

He stood up quickly. "I-I'm sorry Lieutenant. I-I just can't..." He looked down, "I can't see you hurt anymore."

"It's okay sir. I'm fine now."

"No, you're not," he growled, still looking away from her. He took a deep breath. Was he willing to tell her now? "You're aware of the guilt that I hold for what happened to you, are you?"

She nodded slowly. He admitted all of this to her in the hospital on one of the nights they were together. He had believed that she was asleep, but of course, with being blind, it was hard to tell if anyone was asleep. "I want to make it up to you somehow, but I just don't know how…" Taking another deep sigh, "I'll lift the challenge off your shoulders… I'll finish up my paperwork in time…" He kept on muttering little things that he could do for Riza. "I could make you happy again," he whispered, not letting her hear anything about that.

"You need to finish the challenge, don't you sir?" she asked as Roy turned around to face her. "I do too. And we both know that none of us would want to share lips with Major Mikimoto." Roy nodded slowly. "I'm not totally up for this because of the fraternization laws but… we could both finish the challenge together."

Roy looked at her as if she was crazy. However, her thoughts were correct; neither of them wanted to end up paying 50,000 cenz and their lives. They've already heard the story from Megumi that someone did kiss Ayame in Xing and she ended up punching him right after. "All right, but we can't tell anyone in the higher ups."

"Understandable," she nodded, putting a hand over her shoulder.

Roy quickly asked, "For how long?"

"A month," Riza first said, but then remembered the clause about they can't date people as if they were using them so she added, "And a day. Thirty two days. After that, we can walk our own paths."

Roy nodded, thinking that was a good idea. However, a small part of him started to form up on the surface. That small part of him was trying to scream at his conscious about dating Riza. He smiled at her, "A month and a day."

* * *

><p><strong>PHEW! That was a long chapter!<strong>

**I hope you guys liked your Royai… I missed writing about them D:**

**Now the image of Lieutenant Hawkeye being carried by Colonel Mustang on a piggy back is forever burned in my mind… I REGRET NOTHING!**

**Next chapter: -checks outline- DAMN Lot's of problems! Gotta shake things up here in Central! Not everyone is going to have easy success with this challenge!**

**Please review!**

**OH CREDITS TO POKEMONFREAK90 FOR HIS/HER (I never got to ask you D: ) CONTRIBUTION TO THIS CHAPTER! –offers cookie—**

**Resident Asian**

**P.S. I have a deleted scene from this chapter… do you guys want me to post it up when the fiction is over? It's actually kind of funny**


	11. Conflicts

**Warning: sucky chapter.**

**I don't own FMA. I own the Mikimoto twins/sisters and Dr. Lee Hui (YES I KNOW HIS NAME RHYMES.)**

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: Conflicts<p>

June 1, 1916

_Dear Colonel Mustang and the rest of the team,_

_How are you guys? Sorry I haven't called in to say how things are going. Things up here in Briggs are going quite well, but it still isn't the same with you guys around. I miss putting in money for bets and watching Lieutenant Havoc lose every single time thanks to one of our alchemists. Sure, things in Briggs are a lot harder here than they were before, but I think it's a good enough challenge. You've said that challenges are good._

_Speaking about challenges, how is that New Years one going? It has already been half a year. I don't want to be the only one to receive 250,000 cenz. Oh, wait; I've heard that Havoc and Fuery are currently in the lead to finish the challenge. I can't believe that Havoc is dating Lieutenant Catalina. I thought they hated each other. And Fuery with Miss Megumi Mikimoto? Are you sure that's not Major Mikimoto disguised as her sister?_

_I tried to call the office a couple of weeks ago, but I heard that no one was in there for awhile. I also heard that you're in Ishval with Lieutenant Hawkeye. Correct sir? I hope things are going well out there. The ideas that you had earlier were great and I hope they are doing great works out there. Ishval needs it. Our country needs it._

_Well, as for myself, I am doing fine except Angela is expecting our first child in a couple of months! I'm sorry I haven't said anything about it five months ago—work has been hard and we're trying to get relations with Drachma set in stone. Fuhrer Grumman has poked his head around here as well, but it's been mostly General Armstrong's work. Sir, I think you have some heavy competition for Fuhrer Grumman's seat. You're in Ishval and she's up here dealing with Drachma._

_I hope to see you all soon._

_Captain Vato Falman_

Lieutenant Havoc put down the letter on Colonel Mustang's desk. He thought that he would like that little note from Falman when he came back home from Ishval. In the meantime, he decided to head down to the gun range and shoot a bit since all the paper work that him, Breda and Fuery received was all finished and filed, leaving them the rest of the afternoon for their own fun.

When he got there, he already saw Rebecca shooting her rifle in booth number 12. Havoc's eyebrows furled. He thought he won that challenge with her back in March and as a result, he got this booth no matter what. "Hey, Becca!" He decided to play nice to her. She was his girlfriend in the first place. When she heard his name, she instantly fired two shots that went in right after another.

"Crap," he grumbled to himself, "She's pissed." The next thing he knew, he felt a pain between his legs and fell to the ground. "What the fuck, Rebecca?"

She didn't answer him. Instead, she turned back to her booth and started firing. Havoc slowly got up, "Hey, I thought I won that booth back in March!"

"Like it was a challenge right?" she asked in anger as she shot rapidly.

"W-what?" he asked confused.

Rebecca turned to him, "You think everything in your life is a challenge, don't you?"

"N-No, not at all, Bec—"

She groaned loudly, "Havoc! Don't act stupid with me. I know you're still in that challenge that your team decided to do when you were all drunk out of your minds! Don't pretend like you don't know that."

"I-I do know that—"

"Then are you using me or not? Because unlike my best friend Riza, I won't let that happen to me," She pointed to herself. Havoc looked confused. What did she mean by Lieutenant Hawkeye is being used to complete the challenge? She loaded her gun and pointed it to his head, "Are you using me or not, Havoc?"

"I-I…" he didn't know what to tell her. He wasn't using her for sure, but by the way she was acting… Even if he told her that, she probably wouldn't believe her. In both scenarios, they would break up and Havoc would have a problem to get a girlfriend in the next six months. Falman just sent the letter to warn them about only having six months. While that seems like a long time, the first six months flew past them like nothing. Everything from Ishval to the new government was putting the challenge on the back burner. However, for one moment, Havoc did forget about the challenge and focused on his work and making the relationship with Rebecca work.

She shot off to the side of his head. He flinched, but that only gave her time to take the end of her rifle and hit him square in the crotch again. She walked away angrily. "That was the worst break up ever," he groaned. However, Havoc was thinking that the breakup didn't mean the end to him… until he remembered the date. Glancing at his pocket watch, the number date was 1. He asked Rebecca out on May 9th. Eight days until one month. Havoc had failed.

* * *

><p>Central Train Station<p>

Fuery made it a habit to come and pick Megumi up from the train station. This time, he really wanted to ask her out since the last couple of times that she has been here, things have been going well. They go out for lunch together when Dr. Hui is working and he shows her around Central whenever they can. She guys him lunch when he's stuck at work and tries to help out with little things. Megumi hasn't shown any interest in any other guys in East City, so he felt that his chances were getting better.

He waited for her on the platform with a box of chocolates for her. She didn't like to have flowers since Dr. Hui didn't have a vase and most of the time, she had flowers at home, but she always liked chocolate. It was good for her to have it when she needed it the most. There were days when she was terribly upset and the chocolate that Fuery gave her usually made her happier.

He saw her on the train, smiling at him and waving. He waved back, telling her to meet her back here. She was one of the first to get off the train and immediately went into his arms. Something was different though. Megumi was really quiet as of now and she was a lot taller than before. As he put his hands on her hips, she noticed how much larger they were. He heard her snicker a bit…

Fuery fell to the ground after being punched in the face. "What the—" he was about to ask Megumi when the appearance changed and it turned out to be Ayame. He watched in horror. He just hugged the Dark Night Alchemist. That's second worse to kissing her! He realized that she was wearing sandals and she wasn't wearing a dress unlike Megumi. He could tell why he got her confused with Megumi; not only did she use alchemy to change the color and length of her hair, but she wasn't in her military uniform or the black trench coat that she held on to so dearly. She was wearing a light blue dress coat over a white halter-top that looked like something that Megumi would wear. For pants, Ayame wore her black slacks and nice sandals. Ayame has never dressed up in another color lighter than the dark blue t-shirt she wore when she first came to Amestris. Seeing her like this was different.

"So you are dating my sister again, aren't you?" She demanded, lifting him up by the collar. Even though they were about two years apart from each other, she could easily lift the Sergeant Major up a couple of inches.

"N-No, I-I'm not right now, sir," he stammered, nervous and deciding to call her "sir" since she was a Major. He wasn't sure if she was one of those women who would have their underlings call them "Sir" instead of "ma'am" because they were women.

She dropped him to the ground, "She said she was. Though, she did say that you've never asked her out, but she's hoping that you will one day." Ayame crossed her arms across her chest.

He slowly got up, "I thought she said that you didn't want to leave Eastern Command so you couldn't come here."

"Yeah, but I trust my subordinates now," she smirked, "And I could take leave in the first place. Apparently General Haines had filed my papers wrong and put my alchemy research papers first before putting on my leave." She groaned, face palming, "Idiot."

Fuery decided to help Ayame get through Central. He wasn't sure if she really did need help to get around here. Ayame could ask people and she could communicate well with the other Amestrians. She wasn't as shy as her sister, but he still had to help her around. There was no real way for him to escape this fiasco. She sat in the front seat with her hands in her pockets, "So, is the Colonel around?"

He shook his head, "They're in Ishval."

"Shit," she grumbled underneath her breath. "I guess you can talk me to Lee's apartment if you know where it is."

Fuery sighed, starting up the car and leaving the station. He wished that it was Megumi on the train instead of her sister. He was afraid to say anything to her as he might get killed if he pushes her buttons. The car ride was quiet and awkward. Ayame was sitting there, fidgeting with her State Alchemist pocket watch. Every now and then, she would open it and close it. "You're going to loosen the screws on that," he murmured to her.

"I know, but I've gotten it fixed before," Ayame said as she noticed the time displayed on Fuery's watch. She quickly opened up her watch. "Shit," she grumbled.

"Did it break?"

She shook her head, "No. It needs to be rewound." Ayame took a deep sigh, "I guess I have to either stop in to the watch maker or bring it to someone at Central so they can wind it."

"You don't know how to do it yourself?" he asked.

Ayame shook her head again. Fuery looked at her with a blank expression. "What? I was never taught how to wind a watch!"

"I-I could probably do it for you," he murmured.

She shook her head, "No. It's okay. You've done enough already. Thanks." Fuery could imagine Megumi saying that to him. "I barely use it to tell time anyways. It's mostly for show and to hold random stuff in it."

Fuery tightened his grip on the steering wheel, "Like what?"

"I have a picture of my sister and I on the day I got my certification," Ayame ran a free hand through her bangs, "Hey, you never answered my question about my sister."

"I'm not dating her, Major," he replied.

"Yeah, but you had the same look on your face when you thought she was on the train, Fuery," she spat. "I'm not happy for what you did to her. She couldn't stop crying and wondering why this had to be for days. She really thought you were leaving her for a whore. What were you doing at that time?"

Fuery sighed, "Trying not to get killed."

"By me, right?" she smirked, folding her arms across her chest.

"No," he shook his head, "I was put out to the frontlines." Ayame's eyes widened. She didn't think that there were any wars going on right now. The only war that she was fully aware of was the Ishvallan Civil War about ten years ago. She didn't count the coup d'état as a war or anything negative like that. "There was a boarder skirmish going on and I was in charge of transporting the cable lines along the trenches. A lot of my comrades died from rocket propelled grenades." Ayame couldn't believe it. She thought this whole time that Fuery was hiding in a corner with his tail in between his legs. While she did believe that he broke up with Megumi only to protect her, she didn't see why Fuery could've explained it to her. It wasn't like Megumi was stupid or anything. She got concepts down as fast as her sister.

Fuery pulled up to the front door of the apartment building. Ayame got out, grabbed her suitcase and dug into her pockets for a couple of dollars. She gave it to Fuery. "You don't have to pay me anything, Major."

"Yes, but if I didn't know that you were going to be here, I would've called for a cab over here and this is how much I would've paid," Ayame said solemnly. Fuery pushed it away, "Please. Just take it." Ayame turned around with her bags and headed inside the apartment building.

She was angry with herself. She only wanted her sister to be happy but by the looks of it, she was trying to prevent her happiness. Unhappy with her own decision, Ayame decided that she needed to call Megumi the moment she got up in Lee's apartment. It was the least she could do.

* * *

><p>June 2, 1916<p>

"I give up," Breda pulled out his wallet as Lieutenant Havoc and Sergeant Major Fuery looked up at him.

"With what?" Havoc asked.

Breda pulled out a couple 100 cenz bills. The men stared at it with their mouth open. Havoc got up and pushed the 100 bill back into the wallet, "No. Breda, you can't give up on this yet."

"What's the use?" he groaned, "I've tried to date a couple of girls for the last six months and none of them have worked." He looked at Fuery, "They've either gone for some of my other friends," he thought about Erin Baker, "Or they're just plain weird."

"But…" Havoc's voice went to a low murmur, "Major Mikimoto." She was still in Central and was ironically leaving the exact same date and time when Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye were returning back to Central. "Fuery hugged her yesterday and he got punched. What do you expect if you kiss her?" Breda shrugged his shoulders, "Don't forget that back then—you've never really favored her over Fullmetal. I don't know if she knows that but…" It was true, Breda didn't really like Dark Night when she came into Colonel Mustang's command. He couldn't pin point exactly what traits that Dark Night has compared to Fullmetal. He just knew that he was always in charge of the things concerning Fullmetal (and always chose to be in charge of those things) and Fuery and Havoc were in charge of dealing with Dark Night. One of the biggest "missions" they had to do daily was to stall the two of them so that they never meet in the office. If they were, all hell would break lose and a string of insults will be thrown up against each other.

Fullmetal always made fun of the rumor that Hughes started about Ayame's relationship to Colonel Mustang. Hughes believed that she was his daughter and told some of his subordinates about it which created the rumor. After it got around to Colonel Mustang and finally Major Mikimoto, the two of them tried to destroy the rumor.

Ayame, unknown to the rest of the government and the military with the exception of Fullmetal, is the same age as him only a couple months younger. Surprisingly, she's taller than him. Breda, Havoc and Fuery all predicted that if the two of them were to meet again, the insults would come back. They all think that Ayame, who really turns 17 in late July, is still taller than the Fullmetal Alchemist. Thus, her insults about his height would probably continue until he out grew her.

Havoc pointed out one more thing to Breda, "Falman said that we only have six months left. That leaves us plenty of time to get girls. We're all in the same pit, aren't we?"

"What do you mean?" Breda asked.

"We all don't have the first pick," Havoc hated to admit it, but he wished that he didn't screw up with Rebecca. And the truth was that he wasn't using her for his own use in the challenge. He really did love her and all. However, she's like Riza and she's tough to convince. "Major Mikimoto just found out that Fuery is thinking about dating her sister and she didn't seem to happy about it, right?"

Fuery pushed his glasses up his nose, "Well… I don't know. S-She kind of felt bad after I-I explained to her what happened in the South."

"But who knows if you'll see Megumi again," Breda said, "If she knows that you've been seeing her when she's in East City, then for the next couple of times they come to Central, it will be the Major alone."

"I can take leave every now and then, right?" Fuery asked.

"What are you trying to say, Sergeant?" Breda asked him, putting his hands in his lap.

"I'll go to East City," Fuery muttered, "With Major Mikimoto on the 7th."

"But that's when the Colonel is coming back and I don't have enough power to approve of your leave, Sergeant," Havoc pointed out as he was the one put in charge. "You're not planning to leave the military once again to do that, are you?"

Fuery put his hands on his head, looking down at his feet, "No, but I will see Megumi again. I-I need to convince Major Mikimoto to allow me." He slowly rose out of his chair and started to head out for the night.

"Wait," Breda ran up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Do you even have a plan?"

"They need to know the truth… both of them," Fuery murmured, walking out of the office. He felt as if talking to Major Mikimoto was talking to the sister's father. However, the mysterious Mr. Mikimoto, whom the girls don't like to regard at all, had died about six months after his daughters left Xing for Amestris. When the news came out to the girls via Emperor Yao, the girls weren't bothered at all. It was only their mother's death that they cared about.

Fuery had to make things right again.

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><p>June 7, 1916<p>

About 12 PM

Central Train Station

Havoc, Breda, Fuery and Major Mikimoto stood on the platform, waiting for the train from East City to come. The men found it ironic how Major Mikimoto was going to take the train that Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye were coming in on. The Major was wearing her uniform—a change to the men as she was always wearing her black trench coat and blue t-shirt and black shorts when they were all at Eastern Command. She stood there, at ease, glancing at the clock next to her. Fuery was on the other end of the line, looking nervously at her. She yawned, stretching her arms up and out. How could she be tired at this time? "Fuery," she simply said. Her voice felt cold to him as he slowly walked up to her. Breda and Havoc watched as they were all predicting his death.

"Yes, Sir?" he asked.

"Oh, just drop it," she snapped, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, "I talked to Megumi last night." He looked at her with no expression, "And we were talking about things—Lee, how things were going down there at home and… then we got on to the conversation with you." Fuery looked down, "I told her what you told me and she told me to tell you that she's sorry about what happened about a year ago." He snapped his head up, "And you've changed my mind, Sergeant Major." Ayame took a deep breath, "My sister would like to ask you out again. She's coming in two weeks and she would like to see you. Will you accept for her?"

Fuery's heart started to pound. He nervously pushed his glasses up his nose, fidgeting with his hands and everything. "Um… well… D-don't you wa—"

She raised her hand to stop him from speaking. "Please. I made a promise to my sister that I would do anything to make her happy. This is one thing I wanted to do." Her voice turned to a whisper, "I have to admit when you two were dating, you two were the cutest thing I've seen." Fuery blushed, remembering those times. She smiled at him sincerely before frowning and putting her arms across her chest, "Though if you break her heart again you will have to deal with me this time. Okay?"

"Thank you Major Mikimoto," he said, smiling back at her, "And tell her I said yes, okay?" The two of them shook hands, fixing up their friendship and the relationship with Megumi. Ayame slipped a piece of paper in his hands.

"That's our phone number. She still waits for someone to call," she winked, smirking. Fuery became flushed, looking away from her. The train whistle rang through their ears, causing Fuery to turn around and fit in the space between Breda and Ayame. The train slowly made its way to the platform where the four of them waited in a saluted stance. The steam was released once the brakes were applied, causing their capes to move a little bit.

Colonel Mustang was one of the first men to get off the train with Lieutenant Hawkeye following as usual. Havoc walked up to him, saying, "Welcome home sir."

"Thanks," he nodded as he looked at his men. When his eyes met with Ayame, he looked surprised. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asked.

Ayame smiled, "Nice to see you again, sir." She was laughing inside, as it has been a year since the two last saw each other. Technically, Ayame saw him and he didn't. "I just came back to Central to help my friend move his things from his apartment in Central to ours in East City." She reached down to pick up her suitcase. "It's mostly his research that he needs help transporting."

He smiled at her, "It's good to see you again, though Dark Night. Though I wasn't really expecting to see you here at the station."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Well, you know me well enough, sir. I end up in the most unlikely places ever." She saluted to him, "Until next time sir?"

Roy nodded. He didn't really like to say goodbye to Dark Night. She was the only active State Alchemist that he has sponsored. He wanted to ask how the last year has been treating her at East City. He knew that she got a new team of subordinates that she commands over, but he wanted to know more. "Until next time," then it hit him. The challenge. He smiled, as he couldn't wait to see the single person in the group kiss her. It wouldn't be him or Lieutenant Hawkeye for sure.

Ayame shook his hand before boarding the train that he was on. The subordinates waited until her train left, exchanging little piece of information to her. Roy told her to stay out of trouble as usual, Fuery would not stop thanking her and Havoc tried to win back the money that he lost to her yesterday night. As the train started to move, she noticed that Roy "accidentally" slipped his hand in Riza's. Ayame smirked, "I wonder what those two are up to…" She opened up the window and stuck her head out. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "HEY IF YOU TWO ARE GETTING MARRIED I BETTER GET A WEDDING INVITATION!"

Roy let go of Riza's hand as the other three subordinates put their heads down. Yup, that was the Major for them. Roy blushed, looking away from Riza as she stood, glaring down the young Xingese alchemist. Ayame waved at them, smiling. Havoc didn't understand why the two Majors that were under the Chief's command had to be so weird. Major Armstrong stripped constantly and was emotionally attatched to everything while Major Mikimoto kept on pushing on the "impossible" relationship of his superior officers. Then, Havoc had an idea. He looked at Lieutenant Hawkeye. She was still glaring at Ayame.

He might get killed for this idea, but he seemed to do anything to avoid being killed by Ayame.

* * *

><p><strong>OH SHIT HAVOC WHAT ARE YOU DOING?<strong>

**Man, I miss Ayame and how she screams about wedding plans and everything **

**Please review! :)**

**Sorry this chapter kind of sucked. It was basically a filler chapter and I wanted to put something that would happen in the future in this chapter but nooo it wouldn't work! **


	12. Words Left Unsaid Part I

**A/N: I'm sorry that this took a really long time for this chapter to come up. I have a tumblr and there has been a lot of drama concerning Royai fan fictions and because of the drama, I have been wondering if _A__ '__Love__'__ly__Year_ was one of those kinds of fan fiction that is "terribly OOC." While I have gotten feedback from my followers on Tumblr to ignore that, I still have that feeling that this may be a OOC Team Mustang Fan fiction. And then my muse was killed and I couldn't write for awhile. But now it's back and I know what I'm writing about.**

**I think I consider it OOC because some of the characters are half drunk during this story...  
><strong>

**Give me your opinion. I won't mind.**

**Also, Chapter 11 wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. The dates and what ever happened within the story screwed up my thinking and now I was pushing for things to happen.**

**So, I give to you, "Words Left Unsaid Part I, the twelfth chapter of _A__ '__Love__'__ly__Year_!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: Words Left Unsaid Part I<p>

What Havoc was thinking was suicide.

He knew that his superior officer had a thing for Lieutenant Hawkeye. There was no doubt about it. How could anyone still keep their cool when Lieutenant Hawkeye has always been in their life? How could Roy prevent feelings from budding up?

Though, thanks to the fraternization laws, those two could never hold a relationship without anyone getting in the way. Their love was never meant to be unless one of them was to retire from the military and be a citizen. And knowing those two, neither of them would be willing to do it.

How would Havoc want to die? Would he like to be burnt to a crisp or would he want to get his heart punched out Xingese style? Or how about being shot to death?

As he kept on thinking about it, he came to the conclusion that Lieutenant Hawkeye probably doesn't have any feelings for their superior officer. She was always stoic and rarely showed any emotion at work. Not only that, but she follows the code of conduct religiously, meaning that if she were to have any feelings for Colonel Mustang, it probably was eliminated by now.

He couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities and the outcomes of his sinister plan. If he were to implement his plan, he wouldn't have to kiss Dark Night and he would win 50,000 cenz. Though if he were, he faces the wrath of both the Flame Alchemist and the Dark Night Alchemist (if she were to find out.)

The only one who would join Falman in winning the challenge was Fuery. He's on the verge of asking out Megumi Mikimoto after getting clearance from her sister. Breda has given up, Mustang is still single and so is Hawkeye. Havoc thought that if he were to date Hawkeye, then it would be hitting two birds with one stone. It was perfect.

But he would have to ask her out without Mustang around.

Luckily for him, the next day, Colonel Mustang was called up to Fuhrer Grumman's office without Lieutenant Hawkeye. It was rare for those two to be separated, but Grumman insisted that she stay down in the office and as she won't be needed up stairs. Havoc quickly made his move, "So, Lieutenant, how is that challenge going?"

"It's ruining everything," she said bluntly. "I heard Rebecca broke up with you."

Havoc laughed nervously, "Yeah, that wasn't so…" He slowly recalled memories of that day. "Well, let's just say I've moved on."

She looked up at him and noticed that he was trying to win her over. Riza shook her head, returning back to her paperwork. "No, Lieutenant Havoc."

He looked at her with disbelief, "I didn't even—"

"Fraternization laws. I'm a rank above you meaning that I am also a superior officer of yours. Thus, if we were to date, it wouldn't work out. The same thing applies to me and the Colonel."

Havoc didn't want to be shot down or get killed. He has to make her say yes! "Are you dating anyone at the moment?"

"No," she lied. Ever since the incident, she has been in a relationship with Colonel Mustang. She hated that she had to lie about it to everyone and that she turned herself into a hypocrite. She knew that after the tenth of June, everything will be better and Roy can return to devoting his life to his goal: becoming Fuhrer.

Havoc sighed, "The only one who is going to win is Fuery."

"And Falman," she added.

Havoc smirked, "Y'know, if you and I were to get together, it would be getting more for your—" She grabbed her gun from her holster, clicked off the safety and pointed it at Havoc's head with one swift movement. She was still focused on the paperwork in front of her, using her right hand to sign it and holding the gun with her left hand. Havoc started to sweat.

"Lieutenant Havoc, the answer is no and get back to work before I shoot you," she grumbled as Havoc took a step back and started to head back to his desk. "If I were to offer you a piece of advice: fix up your relationship with Rebecca first. She's still complaining about it since you two broke up."

Havoc slowly sat in his desk, pulling out a piece of paper that had Rebecca's phone number. He just looked at it as his heart started to sink. He loved Rebecca—there was no doubt about it, and he was willing to date her for more than a month or two. He wasn't going to break up with her unless something serious happened where he needed to break up with her. He had thought of the future with her and everything. Now, he was left with nothing. Why couldn't Havoc just get up and move? He felt like he was paralyzed again—useless and unsure about what to do.

Since Rebecca, he has looked at women much more differently. He likes the natural types—not the pretty fake ones that he had been courting around and that Mustang eventually stole from him. Why couldn't he find the courage to ask Rebecca for forgiveness?

Right, because Havoc was on the verge of becoming infertile by what she had done to him at the breakup.

* * *

><p>June 9, 1916 6:45 PM<p>

Roy Mustang slammed the last piece of paperwork down on the outbox sitting at the corner of his desk. He smiled widely, capping his pen and turning off the desk light. Once again, he had succeeded in finishing his paperwork in record time. His reasons were fair and simple: he wanted to impress Lieutenant Hawkeye so that the two of them could meet out tonight. Havoc was on the verge of finishing the paper work when Roy finished his; and now he was struggling to get the last paragraphs read before signing it. The last time Havoc rushed himself into doing this, he accidentally agreed to training the cadets. It turned out to be a pain in the ass. All of the cadets' shots were scattered across the field. Then when they went through the obstacle course, the men were worst than Havoc in a wheelchair. Never again has Havoc not read all of the terms and agreements.

Roy had his jacket on, strolling across the office. Riza closed her book in a nonchalant way, standing up and looking at her superior officer with a cold look. "A new record isn't it, Lieutenant?" Roy asked, almost brimming with happiness.

She nodded as she grabbed her jacket from the coat rack. "How about you Lieutenant Havoc?"

He didn't answer her. He kept his eyes moving across the page until he understand every last word. Finally, he took out his pen and signed his name across the bottom. He too slammed the paper on the outbox in front of him, putting his pen back in the drawer and exchanging it for his cigarettes. He decided to head out fast enough so he could get to the bar and snatch a couple of girls. This was his last resort. Any girl to stay with him for more than a month wins. "See you later, Chief," he called out as he stormed through.

Roy watched his Lieutenant move quickly. He looked back at Riza, "Do you know where he's going?"

"No sir," she stated, walking next to him. She was ready to escort him home, as usual, but this time, Roy had something else on his mind.

"Why don't we go out for a drink tonight, Lieutenant? We've been working so hard lately and…" his voice started to trail off. He couldn't find the perfect way to ask Riza out on dates any more. There was always something about the situation that bothered him, and he knew that it wasn't because of the deal he struck with her. It was more than just that.

"Sir, if we go out for a drink, you're going to get drunk, and knowing what has been going on in the last month, I don't think it would be a bright idea for you to go drinking," Riza stated bluntly. Roy didn't catch anything about the deal and put his focus on what has been going on in Ishval. Things were starting to change for the better, but there were now a group of rebels that were willing to attack if anything didn't go their way. While the military has been exigent about the changes, the rebels have not seen eye to eye with the popular opinion. In any case, Roy and Riza would need to head down to Ishval more often than before. It would be easier for them if they were in Eastern Command, but until their transfer, they would call Central home.

Roy huffed, "Fine, then I'll take you out for a simple dinner. Nothing fancy; just a diner in town."

Riza slowly looked up at him. It didn't sound like a bad idea. They used to do these kinds of get-togethers when Roy just entered the military and came to visit Riza in her hometown. They would often hit diners and share their stories over cups of coffee or hot chocolate. "Sure, why not?"

Roy smiled as he offered his arm for Riza to hold. Like a magnet, she came to him, wrapping her fingers around his bicep. He smiled at her as they walked out of Central Command. _Maybe __this__ could __last__ more __than __one __day._

The moment Havoc stepped outside, he stuck a cigarette in his mouth. He really needed to smoke this day out; Fuery was telling all the things that happened over the phone with Megumi as if he was a teenage girl while Breda was on the verge of wringing the young soldier's shoulder in jealousy. There were days like this when Havoc really missed Falman. He missed picking on someone who was as inexperienced as Falman. Fuery was in the same boat at him, but after awhile, Fuery started to get sassy with it and the fun was gone. And since the break up with Rebecca, Havoc has been irritable. He hasn't gone down to the gun range since that day even though that would release the majority of his anger. Instead, he has been taking it out on Fuery.

Breda decided to ask something from Fuery, "How are things going with the young Mikimoto?" It seemed that since Megumi was introduced to the team, they distinguished 'young Mikimoto' as her and Dark Night or the Major as Ayame.

Havoc grumbled, "I bet it's fucking fantastic, isn't it Fuery?"

Fuery blushed, looking down at his hands on his lap, "W-Well… s-she was kind of happy to see me last night."

"And what did you do? Fuck her up yet?" Havoc grumbled.

Fuery flicked his head up, "N-No! G-God, no! S-She's like sixteen, isn't she?"

"You're kind of 'raiding the cradle' there, Fuery," he retorted.

"It's only a couple of years," Fuery complained. It went on like this for a couple of hours until Riza decided to pull her gun and tell them to get back to work. Fuery pushed his glasses up his nose and began to work, but Havoc still lazed around, glaring at the young sergeant. It wasn't very long until Riza shot him and Havoc snapped straight back to work.

Now he was smoking out his problems. Every now and then, a drink would accompany him as he sat in Central City Park with a bottle of whiskey that he had. He was out of his military uniform, but he was still pretty recognizable from the streetlights. He took a big swig from the bottle before lighting up another cigarette. He forgot about his initial plan to go drinking and find any girl that he could at the bar. In the eyes of any one, the way Havoc was acting was almost childish (to an extent, of course) and in order for him to get a girl, he should clean up his act.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out two shadows in the distance. One was a lean girl, the other was a man. The girl was shorter than the man and her hair was almost the same length. However, Havoc was half sober enough to see a blur around her face. He yelled out, "Rebecca! Oh shit, no that's you Lieutenant Hawkeye! Hey, why the heck are you with Fuery?"

Havoc was correct that the other man was Fuery, but the girl that he thought was Riza was actually Megumi. She was pulled in very close to Fuery with his black over jacket on her shoulders. She looked into the darkness to see a man smoking and drinking on the bench. Clutching on to Fuery's jacket lapel, she murmured, "Who's over there?"

Fuery groaned, "Its just Havoc. He hasn't been… the greatest since Lieutenant Catalina and him broke up."

"Poor fellow," Megumi murmured, looking up to him, "Though, we could offer them some help. It happened to us as well." She knew that Rebecca and Havoc ended over the argument about the challenge. Fuery had told her about it on their date tonight, including the clause about the losers having to kiss her sister. Megumi promised to keep that a secret, but she planned to invest some money into a camera and take a picture of the ordeal.

"I-I don't think you should risk it, Meg," Fuery muttered back.

"Hey! Hey! Fuuuuerrry!" Havoc shouted, "Get your ass over here!"

Fuery whispered into her ear, "Havoc isn't the best person to come across when he's drunk. Let's just get you back home, okay?" Megumi nodded slowly as he put his arm around her waist and they started walking away. Havoc kept on calling Fuery to come by him, but the whole time, he had his head down and pressed up against Megumi's soft brown hair. After their shadows left his view, Havoc groaned, "Goddammit, why does every woman hate me so much?"

Roy and Riza were coming towards the park when they heard Havoc. Black Hayate barked a couple of times in the direction of the sound and almost ran after it if it wasn't for his master to pull back on the leash and keep him a safe distance away from the sound. "Havoc," Riza whispered.

"He's drunk in public again," Roy sighed, knowing that if any one would find Havoc, they would file a report that would look bad on Roy's record. They decided to head over to him to help as much as they can. Though, with a drunk Havoc in their hands, it was unpredictable. It was because of Havoc that Riza was involved in the challenge and that they were all fearful of losing because of the clause.

When they came up to him, they noticed the smell of alcohol and cigarettes burnt on his clothes and skin. If Havoc had let his facial hair grow again and done this again, he would look like a poor bum sitting out on the streets of Central. He smiled when he saw Riza, "Hey Lieutenant Hawkeye," he slurred.

"Lieutenant Havoc," she said, looking at him with an ice-cold glare as Black Hayate started barking.

Havoc's eyebrow furled, "Shaddup Hayate!" He was about to kick the dog in the chest, but Hayate took a step away from the drunk Lieutenant and made his way to his master's side. Havoc looked at Roy and Riza. They weren't showing any signs of their relationship, but as Havoc was full out drunk, he could only think that they were. His vision was blurred and Roy was standing close enough to Riza where it looked like their hands met. His eyes widened a little bit, "You goddamn hypocrite!"

His words caught Riza as she stared at him. Any more insults and he would be dead. "Excuse me, Lieutenant Havoc?"

He gritted his teeth, "You. Goddamn. Hypocrite! You said that you wouldn't date anyone who was your superior or who you would be the superior of! That's what you told me a couple days ago." It was surprising to Roy and Riza that Havoc could remember that in his drunken state. "A-And look at that," he started to laugh hysterically, "how long has this been happening, Chief? How long have you stolen my Lieutenant from me?"

Roy could not believe what Havoc was saying. He knew that Havoc didn't have any feelings for Riza. The two of them acted like brother and sister! There was just no way! "Excuse me? _Your_ Lieutenant? Havoc, I allowed you to take my ex-girlfriends for six months now, but this one," He put his hand on Riza's shoulder, "you can't take."

Riza rolled her eyes, "So I'm just one of your girls for the game? We're you…?" She started to think rationally. She didn't believe that Roy was using her for the challenge. In fact, they were both using each other for the challenge so that they could complete it. That was the initial plan that she agreed to. Breaking up with Roy with the same reason that Rebecca broke up with Havoc wasn't right or logical because of their own plan. She muttered, "You men are monsters."

"Aw, c'mon, Riza," Havoc was just wishing to be killed today, wasn't he? "Why don't you come here and see who's the real man?" She lost it. She went up to Havoc as if she was going to give him a kiss, but instead, she slapped him square in the face. "Ow… What the hell Lieutenant?"

She pouted, "This challenge has turned you two into monsters; I didn't even want to be in this damned challenge when it was done in the beginning of the year, but no. I didn't even have a choice to say yes or no. I was put in immediately. And does any one give a fuck?" Roy tried to reach out for her, but she turned away, "No. No. I don't care what happens at the end of the year anymore. What matters is that you," she pointed to Roy, "become Fuhrer for this country and you," she pointed at Havoc, "Get your game straight!" She stormed off with Black Hayate following behind her.

"Wait, Riza!" Roy shouted as he started to chase after her.

"Good luck with her, sir!" Havoc laughed as he got up from his bench and started to waddle to his house. Roy wanted to get her back; he really did have feelings for her and all, but explaining would be hard. He really wanted the relationship to last more than one month. Hell, he wanted it to last forever. Though now he was on the verge of losing her.

Riza knew that he was coming by and immediately said, "No. We're done. I won't help you win the challenge any more. I'm withdrawing." And then she started to walk away. Roy stood there, watching his Lieutenant leaving him. He looked down at the ground.

Roy Mustang failed.

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><p><strong>AN: I find funny how "Apologize" by OneRepublic started playing when Roy and Riza went up to Havoc and when Riza broke up with Roy, "The Day the Sun Disappeared" from the FMAB OST started playing.**

**I KNOW I BROKE UP MY FAVORITE COUPLE BUT I KIND OF HAD TO.**

**Please Read and Review! YAY!**

**Resident Asian**


	13. Kisses

**Chapter Thirteen: Kisses**

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><p>August 2, 1916<p>

Things haven't been the same since the breakup.

Rebecca and Riza have constantly been visiting each other, mostly consulting each other over their break ups in the last couple of months, and trying to find ways to release their anger. Riza was still pissed about the challenge and often released her anger in the shooting range when she would shoot with her rifle and hit the same target many times, thus creating a large hole. She would often go home right at 5:30, not caring if Roy didn't finish his paper work or not, and spend the night with a cup of tea, a book and the only man in her life (according to Rebecca), Black Hayate.

She has been even more stoic and "trigger-happy" as usual. Whenever the boys started to mess around, she immediately tells them to get back to work, and if they didn't, the gun was at their heads. While she did protect Roy from what ever mishaps he got himself into, swore to him to always have his back, and acted as his aid, he could still tell that she was pissed at him. There was always some tension between the two that didn't exist prior to this year.

The same things have been going on with Havoc and Roy. Roy had to make sure that Havoc didn't mix alcohol with his cigarettes. The night Riza broke up with him, Havoc passed out on the way home and he woke up with a headache that lasted him two days before heading back to work. As a gift from Riza, there was a huge pile of paperwork on Havoc's desk. Some may be saying that she's been a bitch since it's happened, but Havoc felt bad for breaking them up. He told Roy that he deserved this treatment and went along work without any complaints.

Ishval has also been a problem. The rebels that the military was concerned about started attacking, thus Roy and Riza both went to Ishval in the middle of June and haven't returned since. The trip over there was awkward. The relationship between his Lieutenant was fragmented and he was trying to find ways to fix it. She would stay quiet as they sat on the train, reading a book or cleaning up her handguns. There were times when he would ask a couple of questions, but she would answer them vaguely. As the questions went on, Riza would constantly say, "Sir get back to work," as Roy always had something to do on the train to Ishval.

One day, Roy got away from Riza during the day. They were going back to finish some paperwork when Roy gave her a plausible pretext that he was going to call Madame Christmas and tell her that he won't be back in Central for a long time. Though, Riza believed that the call would wait, he complained that the Madame's health wasn't going well. If she is to fall ill while he's out here, she better know where he is so she doesn't have to worry despite the fact that she has own daughters. In the end, Riza let him get away and call someone. The phone was picked up in four rings, "Lieutenant Colonel Mikimoto's office, this is Lieutenant Lang speaking," Roy's eyes widened. Ayame got promoted? He remembered seeing her at the train station that one day in June, but he didn't hear anything about her getting a promotion or the work she was doing.

He cleared his throat, "This is Colonel Mustang from Central. Is the Lieutenant Colonel there?"

"She just entered the room, would you like to speak to her, sir?"

"Yes, thank you, Lieutenant," he said as he heard the phone being handled around on the other side before being picked up by someone.

"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Mikimoto speaking," her voice resonated across.

"Hey, Dark Night," he nervously said.

Ayame sighed and with an annoyed tone, she asked, "Okay, what did you do this time?"

"I took your advice."

She started to squeal, "YOU ASKED LIEUTENANT HAWKEYE OUT?

Roy had to remove the phone away from his ear so that Ayame wouldn't blow it up. He scratched the top of his head, "Um yes, but we broke up."

It was silent on the other end of the phone. That was _not_ what Ayame wanted to hear. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Sir, excuse my language but WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?"

He explained that he didn't really do anything. Havoc was drunk and mad that he couldn't get a girlfriend. He also explained that Havoc dated Lieutenant Catalina for awhile and those two ended up breaking up because Rebecca found out about the challenge and got mad at him. He then told her that Lieutenant Hawkeye got mad because she never got a say in the challenge when it was first made and she had no real desire to be in it the first place. He had to continue his goal first before doing anything silly like this and in the end, Riza is now pissed at him and won't really talk to him unless she has to and everything is messed up. "As much as I would hate to admit it to you, Dark Night, I do like her to some extent."

"Awww," Ayame cooed on the other side of the phone.

"Why am I admitting this to an eighteen year old Xingese woman Alchemist?" He groaned.

"Correction, Nineteen year old," Ayame smirked as her birthday was just last week. "Megumi is seventeen," she added even though they are twins and technically, Ayame is seventeen as well. "Though, sir what are you going to do? I can't come up with anything right now."

"That's what I want to know," he muttered, "You know, if we completed this challenge and made it past a month and a day, I wouldn't break up with her unless I had to. I really planned to stay with her for as long as I could." Ayame was literally making "aw" noises at every word Roy said. "Of course, there's the fraternization law—"

"Which I don't give a shit about because it's you and Lieutenant Hawkeye. No one should let the frat laws get that couple messed up," she smiled, laughing loudly. "But you would keep it under wraps right?"

Roy sighed, "I don't know. You're aware the Fuhrer's granddaughter _is_Lieutenant Hawkeye, correct?"

"I eluded it to you when you first called, sir," Ayame groaned, remembering that the Colonel didn't really know who the granddaughter was and eluding it in a code made it fun for her to pick on him. He was silent on the other side. "I said, 'Huh? Ahh… Who? Oh Kay… Er why? Everyone should…' Take the first letter of every word and I spelt out HAWKEYE."

"Why starts with a 'W'," He muttered, knowing that Amestrian was her second language.

"I know that, Colonel," Ayame muttered, "but 'why' sounds like saying the letter 'y'. I think Fuhrer Grumman eluded it to you as well—"

"Yes, he spelt her first name in the same way you did. Only his made more sense. Yours was confusing."

She gritted her teeth, "It's was on the spot coding, sir. You know I'm not good with that."

"Anyways, Fuhrer Grumman is willing to do anything to see his granddaughter happy, even if it means manipulating the frat laws," Roy kept his voice low so that no would could hear him. "I wish that could be, but the situation…"

"Honestly, Colonel," Ayame sighed deeply, "Just tell her the truth. Tell her that you love her and that you want to have babies with her—"

He ignored the fact that Ayame was going a little bit too extreme and asked, "What makes you think that I didn't say that to her?"

Ayame made an unknown sound. "I dunno, but I have a feeling that you kind of lied to her and either created a plan that would make you two complete the challenge or I dunno, you're Colonel Bastard according to Fullmetal. You did _something_."

Roy sighed, combing his fingers through his hair, "Thanks, Dark Night. I'll try to find something. Good bye," he hung up the phone. That didn't really help; but then again, Dark Night rarely helps with his own problems. Though, she was correct again: he did need to tell her the truth and try not to conceal it with anything like the challenge or any proposal of a plan.

He had to be exigent about this. Who knows how long he will stay in Ishval? If he is here until the end of the year, then he would lose the challenge for sure. Though, Roy Mustang rather lose the challenge than lose Riza Hawkeye.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in Central—<p>

Megumi Mikimoto stood in front of the mirror at her friend's apartment. She had recently bought a white teacup dress for the date tonight, but there was just something about the dress that was bothering her. Her friend, Dr. Hui, was standing a couple steps behind her, watching from the kitchen table. Today would mark one month since Fuery and Megumi started dating. It wasn't official yet that Fuery had completed the challenge, but a month did prove to be a milestone. The two of them believed that Ayame would never let them date again. And now, just for Megumi's own happiness, they were together.

She pulled parts of her bangs out of her face with two small bobby pins with little white flowers at the edge. Lee looked up, "You look adorable, Meg."

She blushed, not even looking at Lee, "Thanks, b-but I dunno…"

"Your sister would think so," he pointed out as there was a knock at the door. He rose out of his seat and opened the door. Fuery was still intimidated by Lee. He was taller than the sergeant by a long run, but only a couple months younger than him. The place just made the intimidation worse; Lee lived in a rundown apartment with creepy people as neighbors. While Lee isn't like that and actually has a kind heart, it's kind of hard to believe that he really does like living here. Lee said his hellos to Fuery as he turned over to Megumi, "Keep it clean children," he smirked in Xingese.

Megumi rolled her eyes as she walked up to the front door. On the way, she punched Lee with no hesitation. He doubled over, but was laughing instead. She slammed the door behind her as they stepped out into the hallway. She looked at Fuery, "Let's get out of here. This place still gives me the chills."

He laughed at how blunt she could be, "Sure." He laced his fingers in between hers, just as they did back in East City. Sooner or later, they were outside and driving out for their dinner. They were quiet in the car, as usual, with the hum of the radio to kill the silence. Fuery gulped hard and Megumi looked at him.

"Are you okay, Kain?" she asked as his name slid over her tongue.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," he stated. He was surprised how easily Megumi transitioned between "just friends" to "boyfriend" and "girlfriend." It was like they never broke up at all. Megumi called him and came to Central occasionally to see him and also to help Lee move his things to East City. Fuery feared the day when Megumi wouldn't come back to Central to see him. The day would be when Lee would move to East City. "When is Dr. Hui leaving?"

Megumi sighed, "At the end of the year. Ayame and I are both making trips out here for Christmas so that we actually have some what of a family." Fuery felt some sympathy for his girlfriend. A lot has happened in the last two years- from both of her parents being killed, her ability to do alchemy taken away, moving to Amestris and learning a new language, to the successful death of their brother who caused their pain. He could see why Major Mikimoto wanted to secure her sister's happiness: both of them have gone through so much.

"It's going to be your first Christmas here," he mused.

Megumi nodded, "It's going to be our first Christmas point-blank. In Xing, we celebrate these winter holidays that are hard to translate into Amestrian. Christmas is similar to one of the holidays, so," she shrugged her shoulders, "It will be nice to have the gang reunited again." He remembered her tell him how Ayame had to fight Dr. Hui to the death as kids. Both of them were really good friends and neither of them wanted to do it. They both forfeited when Ayame got hurt and Lee tried to heal her wound in guilt. The end result was they weren't allowed to be seen together. Megumi wished that she would see Lee and Ayame together just as it happened for her, but from what she has gathered, the two of them remain to be only friends and none of them want to take one step forward.

"And you can probably head out with me to meet my parents," Megumi turned red. He laughed softly, grabbing her hand and putting his on top of hers, "Don't worry, they're nice people like me, okay?"

She nodded slightly before leaning over her seat and placing a kiss on his cheek. He turned red as well as she sat back, "Thanks."

His heart started to race as he was getting close to his destination. They were only going to get something nice to eat and then spend the rest of the night together. None of them liked the elaborate dates that other people had. "I decided to bring a picnic basket for tonight, is that okay?"

Megumi rubbed her upper arms, "Yeah, let's just hope it doesn't get too cold."

"It's been a warm summer," he mused. He found a parking spot close to the park they always went to. After turning off the engine, he ran around the car and helped Megumi out of the car. She took the picnic basket and blanket out of the trunk of the car and decided to carry it herself. Walking hand in hand again, they crossed the park without a drunken Havoc screaming at them. They walked up the sledding hill and set their blankets on top of the hill. The sun was still out, but just on the edge of the Central Command walls. Both of them sat together with Fuery's arm snaked around her little waist. She rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and chewing on a piece of bread that was in the basket. He loved it when Megumi was quiet around him. There wasn't a need for words when ever they were together; just the little things mattered. Things like that was one of the main reasons why Megumi felt so bad after the break up. She would miss the little dates she would have with him, all the times cuddling with him and all the times she would make her sister feel awkward just by being with Fuery.

The wind started to pick up. They were high enough where part of Megumi's dress started to flip up and show a little bit of her underwear. She tried to put something on top to stop it from showing more than what she wanted, but her efforts were useless. Fuery noticed all of this and decided to pull her on his lap. He kept one hand on her left thigh, pressing down on the soft fabric to keep it from flapping up. She blushed as she was very close to him now with her arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders. He blushed while Megumi leaned into him. Their foreheads were touching and their hearts were beating so quickly. It has been months since they were this close.

The next thing the two of them knew, they were kissing. And it wasn't just like an awkward first kiss; it was a passionate kiss between two lovers. Megumi remembered her first kiss with Fuery; she accidentally fell backwards into the river below her and Fuery had to rescue her because she couldn't swim.

After the kiss, they were smiling and laughing at each other with their foreheads touching. Megumi centered the glasses on Fuery's face with his face bright red. He whispered in her ear, "I love you Megumi."

* * *

><p>September 1st, 1916<p>

Havoc decided to go drinking one night without anyone knowing. He felt too depressed to even light a cigarette and sit out of Central City Park like he did a couple months ago. As he was sitting at the bar with a class of whiskey in his hands (his first, surprisingly), he noticed one of his coworkers come in. He smirked, "I'm surprised you came here and you actually wanted to talk to me."

Riza sighed, "Well, I've been getting sick of Hayate for the last couple of weeks. I think I need some change of scenery." There was something about Riza that threw off Havoc. For one thing, she was bustier than he remembered. But he kept on thinking that it was the military uniform that concealed that so it would screw up with his own thinking. He knew that it wasn't the alcohol; it took more than just a shot of whiskey to make him drunk. It took more than two drinks to make him drunk.

"I never knew you to be a drinker, Lieutenant," he looked at her. Her eyes were a lighter brown than the chocolate brown eyes that the Lieutenant really had. He smiled, thinking to play along with her until he could make a straight shot and call her bluff.

"Ishval," she stated as she called the bartender over to get her a drink, "it changes people."

"Sure," he nodded, facing away from her, "So, how is the challenge?"

"You know that we're both losing it right now," she mentioned, "and for sure, Fuery and Falman are going to win." Her voice was just a little bit higher than Lieutenant Hawkeye, but other than the eyes and the bust, Havoc could easily get this Hawkeye-faux confused with the real Riza Hawkeye… if he was drunk. Who ever was doing this to him must've known that he would be here drinking and they were expecting him to be drunk. "How are things going with Rebecca?"

Riza knew what was going on with Rebecca. Why was she asking? He laughed nervously, "Well, not as good as I planned. I… I screwed up."

Her eyebrows rose, "Really? Why do you say that?"

Havoc sighed, putting his hands out in front of him, "I don't know. I wasn't dating her because of the challenge; I was dating her because I actually love her. Though, she didn't believe me or give me a chance to tell her. She knocked me senseless at the gun range when we broke up," he felt a little pain in between his legs and started to shift around on the bar stool. "If I could tell her everything that happened, then she would understand. I-I wasn't planning to break up with her at all. I-I wasn't thinking that when we were dating." He felt good after that, but needed to take a big drink of his whiskey after that ordeal. "So yeah, that's my story. I don't know if I'll ever live again to tell it to anyone else."

"Why?" She was being extremely curious. Havoc looked at her and then looked back at the mirror across from him. He could notice that there was a small brown piece of hair coming out from… underneath Riza's blond hair? And it was a dark brown hair, not an undertone or highlight that Riza could have in her blonde locks. He noticed the face in the mirror and smirked. He knew who this was.

"I dunno, maybe because Rebecca already knows?" He smirked, looking evily at the faux Riza.

"How do you know that Rebecca knows…?" Havoc slipped his hand out and knocked off the blonde wig off the woman next to him. It was Rebecca who was sitting next to him dressed up looking like Riza. Both of them had the same eye color, but the hair color was the only thing that changed in their appearance. The two of them were talking about fixing things up with their ex-girlfriends and Riza knew for sure that Roy was upset and getting desperate to find something. They also expressed that they wanted things to be better. This whole challenge thing screwed up their trust for each other that they both believed was a bad idea; Riza needs to protect Roy until he becomes Fuhrer and every now and then, Havoc needed to have his sorry ass saved. If anything, they needed to trust each other.

So Rebecca and Riza decided to switch places and try to talk Roy and Havoc out into telling them what happened. At least their side, since they were so religious on their first theory. They invested money into buying wigs and cutting them up to look like the other one's hairstyle.

Rebecca looked at Havoc with her arms up against her chest as if she was naked. "Havoc!" She exclaimed as she pulled her hair out of the clip it was in, letting it into a pony tail. He was looking at her, smirking with a face full of amazement. It wasn't hard to find the flaws.

"C'mon, Becca, it wasn't like you could pull off looking like Lieutenant Hawkeye," Havoc laughed as Becca punched him in the arm. She kept on punching him over and over again until he laughed and smiled at her, "Okay, okay, I'll stop."

They were quiet for a while until Becca asked, "So did you really mean what you said?"

Havoc nodded, "I wasn't lying."

Rebecca sighed, wrapping her arms around Havoc's shoulders, "I'm sorry."

He smiled, "Its okay." There was an awkward silence between the two, "So, does that mean…?"

Rebecca removed her arms from Havoc and punched him in the gut, causing him to wince. He tried to laugh it off, but whenever Rebecca punched him, it always hurt like being stabbed by Lust all over again. Maybe it was that to him, or maybe Rebecca keeps on punching him in the place where Lust _did_ stab him. She pulled his face closer to hers and kissed his lips. She then let go of him, letting him fall into her if it wasn't for his sober mind and quick thinking to catch the bar. She took a drink of her drink, "Does that explain it, Jean?"

"Yes," he tried to catch his breath. The way she kissed him was unexpected for him. Though, it wasn't like it was awkward or anything new. It was just a simple kiss that meant a lot to him. He tried to process every thing that happened, but even with a sober mind, he had difficulty. Havoc looked at Rebecca, "So, if you're here, then what's Lieutenant Hawkeye doing?"

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><p>Madame Christmas' Bar<p>

7:16 PM

Roy hated it that Riza always decides to leave the office at 5:45 PM. He missed screwing around with her just to get her upset and just to hear her yell at him to get his paper work done. Now without her, he felt like he didn't want to do any of it. Though, he had to. The paperwork that sat in front of him every night was always concerning Ishval. He just returned two days ago after spending his entire summer there. If things weren't going to get better back there, then he would be making another trip before the month ends. Part of him wasn't willing to go there, but this was his mission and his plan. He had to go.

It was also his bright idea to have this stupid challenge. Roy sat at his aunt's bar with a little notebook in front of him of ideas on how to finish the challenge. He still wanted to ask Riza as he was strongly against letting any one of his subordinates fail this challenge. He has already planned a couple of dates for Breda that will take place during this month, but just by his actions, Breda didn't seem too excited for it.

Madame Christmas came over towards him, "So, Roy boy, how's that challenge going that you and your friends made last New Years?" He groaned. She shook his head, "And you couldn't ask one of my girls?"

"Elizabeth and Braidykins figured out who all your girls were and they said I couldn't date them," he sighed as he took a drink of his whiskey, "Though, I did date Elizabeth for awhile."

Madame Christmas' eyes widened, "Really? How did that go?"

"She found out about the challenge and broke up with me," he sighed, "but I made her a deal in the first place about the challenge and she accepted it. I don't know why she's still mad at me." He took another drink to flush out his thoughts, "Jacqueline kind of got into the fight as well."

She shook her head, "Them girls… they're going to eat your heart out, Roy boy."

"I know," he muttered, crossing out something on his little black book. The front door swung open and Riza (dressed up like Rebecca) walked in. She wasn't informed about anything concerning the real Rebecca. Just like what Rebecca had initially planned, the two of them weren't exact look a likes of each other. They were wishing that the men would be a little tipsy before they went over to see them. Roy watched as "Rebecca" sat next to him, ordering a couple shots and taking them down quickly. Normally, Riza wouldn't drink anything, but it doesn't mean that she doesn't drink at all. Rebecca was correct about Riza drinking a little because of Ishval, but that was the last time she really had anything. The burn in her throat was hard to bear at first, though it was a good burn. She felt like she needed it.

Roy smiled, "Rebecca Catalina."

"What do you want?" She asked sounding pissed off already. Roy looked away from her, careful to not show any expression that would make Riza believe that he already knew that it was her. For being around her for so long, it was easy for him to tell when she was doing something to her voice. He has seen her out of her military uniform many times and knows what her body type is like-not too muscular, not too thin with curves everywhere.

He turned back to her. "Nothing, I'm just surprised you're over here."

"Yeah, well," she took another shot. "Havoc wouldn't be here as much as you would, right?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno my aunt owns this bar. But, knowing Havoc, he likes those big pubs downtown."

Another shot down, "Yup. How's Riza doing?"

Roy's eye brow rose. Why was she doing this? "She's doing well."

"Really?" Riza examined the shot glass before putting it back on the bar, "From what I've heard, she's really pissed off. Something about a challenge, I remember. Probably the same one Havoc got his sorry ass into." She received another shot and took it down, "Mind to tell me?"

How many shots can she take? He remembers dimly of their times during the Ishvallan War and those days when the men would sneak off whiskey or gin in their canteens. Royhad snatched one of them one night and used it constantly to drink out what happened the day before. One night, Riza was with him and she got thirsty. She accidentally drank out of his alcohol canteen, innocently proving to him that she can drink like a man. "Havoc kind of got… jealous." He started to recall, "Though, Fuery was the only one who was inching close to completing the challenge that wasn't Falman."

"He's dating Major Ayame Mikimoto's younger sister, right?"Roynodded as Riza rolled her eyes like Rebecca, "I'm surprised he hasn't died yet."

"It's their second time around,"Roy muttered. "And Megumi Mikimoto is calmer than her older sister. I don't think I've heard her talk yet." He sighed deeply, "The story?" Riza nodded, "Okay, well, Havoc tried to get Riza to go out with him, but she told him that she couldn't about the frat laws. He got drunk that night and we both saw him. He assumed that we were going out and called her a "goddamn hypocrite" before she got pissed about the challenge and got mad at me." He didn't want to admit to Rebecca/Riza that he did date her. He wasn't unsure if he would tell any one except for Riza herself. Though, he was playing along with her to make her believe that he didn't know that it was Riza underneath that disguise.

"Tough story," Riza grumbled under her breath. She was upset about the challenge and what happened, but she was upset at herself that these things had to happen. Ishval was awkward for her since it was only her and Roy most of the time. She acted like the cold hearted Lieutenant that he knew so well while knowing that he missed the softer side of her. She knew for a long time that he missed the Riza Hawkeye that didn't go to serve in the Ishval War. She has known even since they met in Ishval. The way he looked at her… "But I bet it was nothing to you, right?"

"Everyone assumes that…" he started off, "but it's a lie." Riza's eyes widened in interest; there was something thatRoywas hiding from her and it was about time that she knew. She already knew some of the clauses that he let go—most of them dealing with Promised Day events—though she had to wonder about their past. "I love her," he muttered quietly, almost as if it was a whisper, "I wasn't planning to break up with her once the one month was over. Even though I made that proposal to her to only date her a month and a day… I realized that I couldn't."

Riza just watched him, clenching her fists to hide her own emotions. She wished that she could take off this damned wig and tell him the truth, but what would she do after that? What would happen if she were to do that? Instead, she kept her cool and kept on listening. "Dark Night—I mean, Major Mikimoto,"Roysaid, thinking that Rebecca didn't know Ayame's State Alchemist nickname, "pushed me to date her and ask her out. And prior to this, it was a lot worse in person." He groaned, "I just wish I could ask her out again. I don't care about the frat laws or anything any more. Her grandfather is the Fuhrer and he's willing to do anything to make her happy." He paused, "I-I'm willing to do anything to make her happy again." He started to think about her before Ishval when they were kids. The changes between time were as clear as water and oil.

Riza looked down, feeling as if the world sat on her shoulders. She felt like she didn't want to move or say anything. What she just heard was hard to take in. She believed for so long that the Womanizer of Central wouldn't love someone like her. She thought that the care that he brought to all of his subordinates were only for that package: the subordinates and not one a final sip of his drink before leaving a couple of cenz on the bar for his aunt. He got off the bar stool and started to get his things together. Riza watched silently, "Well. That's my story. I don't know what I'll do next. I guess I should go and dig my grave sometime soon…" he started to yawn and stretch his arms out over his head. "Do you need a ride home, Rebecca?"

She shook her head. He patted her shoulder, noticing the way it felt under his hand, "See you later." The door opened up and immediately, the sounds of the rain falling on the sidewalk could be heard over the roar of the bar , knowing his hate for the rain. Though, tonight, he wouldn't mind if he got a little wet. He had a feeling that he wouldn't run into much trouble tonight.

As the door closed behind him, Riza sighed deeply, grabbing the wig and throwing it on the ground. She put her elbows on the bar and covered her face with her hands.

"Goddammit, Riza."

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><p><strong>AN: HOLY CRAP LONG CHAPTER! **

**But this was totally worth it! **

**And now we all know that our favorite pyromaniac, mini skirt loving, dog loving Colonel loves his Lieutenant. It just makes me soo... DAWWWW inside. Though then again, this chapter was really angsty. Angst. Angst. Angst.**

**Well, what's going to happen in the fourteenth chapter (I'm so proud that I broke this chapter up into two)? Stay tuned to find out.**

**BTW: I love the Fuery and Megumi part in this story. SO DAMN CUTE. **


	14. Words Left Unsaid Part II

**A/N: WOOOO HOOO ROYAI CHAPTER! **

**I don't own FMA! **

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><p>Chapter 14: Words Left Unsaid Part II<p>

September 1, 1916

Riza opened the door leading out of the bar and looked outside. It was still pouring and the only way she could get home was by foot. She didn't even think to take a car or borrow one from the military since this little mission was her own idea and her own doing. She sighed deeply, knowing that this was all her fault. She seriously thought that by breaking up with Roy, there wouldn't be as many problems with Havoc trying to get a girlfriend after Rebecca. There were always Roy's ex-girlfriends that he constantly paraded around Central like trophies.

As she walked in the rain, she gripped tightly on the edge of her sleeves. He wasn't playing with her, was he? She still couldn't wrap around the idea that Roy felt guilt from what happened on the Promised Day. It was even difficult to wrap her mind around that and around the new layer of truths that Roy "mistakenly" told her. In any case, he shouldn't have those feelings. She saw herself as his bodyguard and adjutant; nothing more, nothing less. But every time she thought about that, she always forgot one key point. The time in her life that meant everything to what happened in the past and in the future.

The year she met him.

If it wasn't for that day when he became her father's apprentice, who knows what she would've been doing. For one thing, she wouldn't be in the military. She would've probably continued her schooling and gotten a job as a teacher or maybe something with books. The Hawk's Eye wouldn't come across any Ishvallan's mind and there could possibly be fewer casualties done by one sniper.

She would probably be married to someone by now and pregnant with their child. It was rare for her to even think of what would happen if she never met Roy. It was because of him that she entered the military; she felt like she needed to do something to her life—to make a difference. And she knew that if Roy was going to be in the military with this idealism to have everyone protect the ones they love, then she could do the same as well.

Riza didn't know how many blocks she walked. She just knew how to get from one place to another on foot. She did know roads and streets like the back of her hand, though just to make sure; she looked up at what intersection she was at.

"Eighth Avenue and Lawton," she read the street sign across the street. She sighed, knowing that she would have to cross in front of Central Command to get all the way to her apartment on the other side. By this way, she would also pass around where Roy would turn off one road to head to his apartment. She continued walking.

She could feel her cold skin against the wet rain as it kept on pouring on top of her in buckets. She knew that the majority of the clothes that she was wearing were now soaked. This wasn't the best idea for her, but she didn't feel like catching a taxi or calling anyone to help her out. The only person who she could call was Rebecca, but she was undercover with Havoc posing as her. They couldn't break their cover. And, from what they were doing prior to meeting up with the boys, if they were together, they could easily tell who Riza and Rebecca were.

All that Riza Hawkeye knew was that she fucked up.

Roy knew that from the moment he felt the form of "Rebecca's" shoulder, that it was actually Riza. There was always something about the way Riza's shoulder was sculpted that made her different from all the other women that he touched. Not only that, but touching her shoulder often brings back bad memories from the Promised Day when he held her in his arms.

There were other qualities that he noticed. Riza's eyes are a chocolate brown compared to Rebecca's light brown eyes. Their face shapes were different and the scars were different. Rebecca barely has any scars on her face, but Riza has a faint scar underneath her eye brow from Ishval and a large scar on her neck from the Promised Day.

Of course, he noticed all of this after he admitted that he loved her. Now he's standing in a phone booth, trying to call the bar where Havoc was. But the bartender said that Havoc—one of his regulars—wasn't there and he had headed home with a blonde woman. Roy started to feel sick; did Riza really decide to go with Havoc instead of him? No, there was no way, he thought. Roy barely had one drink at the bar the whole time he was there. It was unnatural for him to do that, but he was busy with trying to fix his relationship with his only best friend alive. With only one drink, his mind wouldn't be as messed up as compared to the annual New Years Eve Party. He could still think logically (to his own logic, of course) and could easily walk in a straight line if he had to.

He decided to call Havoc at his house instead after the failed attempt at the bar. In four rings, he picked up, "Hello?" He sounded tired and like he just woke up.

Roy fished out his pocket watch and checked the time. It was only about 8 now. "Havoc, what are you doing asleep at this time?"

"Chief?" he asked. He heard some rustling on the other side before Havoc started swearing and cussing. There was another woman on the other side of the line, screaming at him as well, though it wasn't fighting. "Okay, okay, hold on Bec. I'm on the phone," his voice resonated through the receiver. Roy's ears perked. Rebecca was with Havoc! That means…

He turned around in the phone booth to look outside. It was still pouring and he would guess that Riza didn't have a car with her. He started to connect the pieces together. Riza's walking all the way across Central to her apartment in the rain. "Havoc," Roy turned back to the phone, "Who is with you right now? I need to know."

"Uh… this pretty lady," he tried to hide the fact that he was dating Lieutenant Catalina again.

"Havoc! Answer me!" Roy growled.

"It's Lieutenant Catalina, sir," Roy's heart started to beat quickly when Havoc mentioned that it was a lieutenant with him, but then when he said "Catalina" instead of "Hawkeye", he eased a bit.

He smirked, "That's all I need to know. Don't mess up this time." He hung up the phone and got out of the phone booth. He really needed to find Riza. There was no doubt to it, but she probably needed him right now. He quickly ran to the car, started it and headed off towards her apartment. He couldn't help but wonder about her as he scanned the streets. Doing this made Roy nervous; the last time he scanned the streets for Riza was the night she got attacked by those drunken bar patrons almost two months ago. He hoped to not find her in the same situation. If Roy did… they would be burnt in an instant.

As he started to cross Central Command, he noticed someone walking on the sidewalk closest to the base's walls. He took a right turn just before that block and circled around. He pulled up about a couple steps ahead of her and rolled down the window. The moment she passed by, he yelled, "Elizabeth!"

Riza snapped out of her thinking and looked up. She turned towards the road to find Roy sitting in his car in front of her with one arm resting on the edge of the window. He was kind of smirking at her with one hand on the steering wheel. _Uncanny timing_, she thought. The last time this happened was right after she got home from Pride "attacking" her. The two of them looked at each other for awhile; there was real use for words at the moment. She sighed deeply, shaking her head. "C'mon," he mused, "I'll take you home."

Riza slowly walked up to the car and placed her hands on the edge of the window, her fingers placed a couple inches away from Roy's arm. He put his hand on top of hers, smiling at her with the same idiotic smile that she had known. She walked in front of the car, opened the car door and got it. Roy shrugged off his jacket that he was wearing and put it on her shoulders. She gasped, knowing every last thing that he had kept from her. She pulled his large jacket closer together, "Thank you, sir."

After a silent ride up to her apartment, Riza invited Roy inside her apartment to warm up for a bit. It started to get really cold outside and Riza was almost shivering by the time Roy saw her walking on the sidewalk. As she opened the door, Black Hayate barked out, knowing that someone else was next to his master. He immediately jumped on Roy, but unlike when he jumped Ed, he didn't fall over and reached down to pet the puppy. "Hey boy," he picked up the excited puppy and followed Riza into the apartment. He set him down, letting him follow his silent master through the kitchen and into her bedroom. Riza started to boil a kettle filled with water just before she shrugged off Roy's jacket and grabbed some clothes to change into.

While she was changing, Roy sat down on her couch, wondering on how to ask her how much she knew. Of course, she knew everything since Rebecca was really with Havoc. Though, there was always this feeling he had around her that he couldn't just straight ask her about things. He was afraid of being shot by her or getting her pissed off. Maybe it was something that had to do with pleasing her. He couldn't put a finger on it yet. He just knew a couple of things that he did know. One, he loved her dearly. And two, he wanted her to know without any more secrets or lies that they would have to pull. Of course, there is that one factor that they would have to keep it a secret for a long time; Grumman doesn't seem like eliminating the fraternization laws—just letting a couple slip through his fingers and the fingers of everyone else in his administration.

Riza slowly tried to get her thoughts together. She knew that he loved her and kept on repeating it, though she had to wonder why? What was it that made him love her? She stared at the mirror in her room, noticing all of the scars she had on her arms and the one on her neck. How could he love a monster like her? She has killed so many innocent lives including children. She pulled over a white button up shirt that she couldn't remember when or where she got it and a pair of black sweat pants. She ran into the kitchen to stop the kettle and prepared two tea cups. She couldn't stop shivering as she poured the water in to the cups. She grabbed a tray from the cupboards, placed the cups on top and walked out into the living room carefully.

Roy simply watched her cross the room, noticing the goose bumps on her arm and the quiet chatter from her shivering. She set the tray on the coffee table in front of him. Hayate looked up at his master with a worried face and whimpered a bit. He knew that she was suffering right now, but didn't know what was causing her unhappiness. Roy did notice that it was colder in her apartment compared to hallway outside. He thought that it was just him, but when he saw her shivering, he knew for sure that it wasn't. She sat down a couple inches away from him. The space was large enough to have Black Hayate move in between them and tug on Riza's sleeve. She occupied her self by rubbing her hands together, trying to get warm. Roy moved Black Hayate to the other side and scooted closer to her. She could immediately feel how warm he was just by his movements. He snaked an arm around her shoulders shyly-afraid that if he touched her this time, she would turn into dust. She tensed at his touch, causing him to think about removing his hand, but she relaxed.

"A-Are you cold, Riza?" he asked quietly.

That's an obvious question, she thought as she shook her head, lying to him.

He rubbed her upper arm, taking notice of the way her shoulder felt around his hand. Yeah, it was her back there. "Riza—"

She scooted away from him, looking away. "I-I'm sorry sir, I-I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Roy looked shocked. What was going on? He sighed, "I don't know why I should tell it to you again. I pretty much told you back in the bar." She looked back up at him as he was looking towards the window behind them. He knew? If he knew then that means that… She stopped her thoughts and tried to think of what other things he said. "I'm supposed to assume that you don't," he muttered in a low voice before turning to her and smiling sweetly. "I love you Riza. Please…" Roy gulped as scooted closer to her, trying to reach out for her arm. He managed to take hold of her left hand, noticing how cold it was to his touch. She could feel the warmth in his hand pool on her hand and travel up her arm. He pulled her gently closer to him, wrapping his arms around her. She tensed up again, though once she had her forehead resting on his shoulder, she relaxed and put her hands along his sides. Her right hand was just touching his side lightly, knowing the scar that he inflicted from the fight with Lust.

Roy moved his hand to stroke her wet hair as she moved away from him again. He used the time she moved to lower his head down and press his lips against hers. She was startled at first, but once again she relaxed and kissed him back. Her arms moved from his side to his neck, deepening the kiss and allowing his tongue to slip in. She moaned slightly, feeling him taste every inch of her mouth. The women that he had dated before were right; he was a really good kisser. They separated themselves, catching their breaths. Though, Roy pulled her back into his embrace as Riza put her hands on the side of his face. She was smiling at him, "I love you too."

"I promise not to use you for the challenge, Riza," he murmured, "but I love you so much that I can't see myself with anyone else. I-I just want to know—"

She kissed him on the cheek, "I don't know why I should tell it to you again. I pretty much told you five minutes ago." He grinned, hugging her tightly. Black Hayate decided to join the couple, jumping on his master's lap and licking Roy's hands. The two of them chuckled lightly, watching the little puppy grab their attention. Riza found herself no longer cold thanks to him, but in exchange for her shivering, she started to fall asleep in his arms. She really didn't want this to happen nor did she want him to leave her.

The next morning, Roy and Riza were still asleep on the couch, snuggled in each other's embrace. Roy had laid down on his back and used the armrest as a make shift pillow. Black Hayate was curled up in his own little ball at the end of the couch.

Riza slowly woke up, noticing the smell of Roy's clothes. It smelt a lot like the shirt she was wearing. That was when she realized that she was wearing his shirt when he accidentally left it here one day. She forgot to return it to him and added it to her pajamas. She couldn't remember how she got in this position until she noticed the tray sitting on the coffee table. Riza yawned slightly, looking around to see what time it was. After trying to find a clock, she gave up and rested her head against Roy's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Roy was still sound asleep, softly snoring and muttering little things. He moved his hands on Riza, gripping her tightly and flipping both of them together so that her back was against the back of the couch. He held her like a child's teddy bear—clutching on it for life and never letting go. Riza cringed, feeling how uncomfortable she was in her new position. She tried to pry Roy off, but the Flame Alchemist's grip was too strong for her. She lifted up her legs to her chest and put her feet on Roy's chest. She tried to push him off that way, but she still couldn't move him. "No, don't leave me Elizabeth," he murmured into the side of her neck, burying his face into her shoulder.

She decided that this might wake him up. In a different tone of voice, she said, "I'm not Elizabeth." Roy's eyes shot open and he immediately got up to see who he was sleeping with. However when he looked down and saw that it was Riza, laughing softly, he groaned, putting his arms around her waist and pinning her down on the couch by laying on her back. Her face was smothered into the couch cushion as Black Hayate started barking. She tried to get out, "Roy! Get off me!"

He lightly kissed the back of her neck, "No. You woke me up."

She grabbed his wrists and tried her best to flip him over. In her attempts to remove his hands from her waist, she almost got them away, however on her last attempt, they both managed to get free but at the cost of falling off the couch. Roy rubbed the back of his head as he sat up, "Jeez, Riza are you usually that rough in the morning?"

She smirked, "It gets a lot worse in bed." Roy stared blankly at her. She did not just say that, did she? She reached over and kissed him on the cheek, "but you won't see that until later." Riza slowly rose from the ground and headed off into the kitchen to make breakfast with Hayate following close behind. Roy sat on the floor with his back against the couch. He looked down at his hands and then started to trace the scars on his palms inflicted by Bradley.

"That wasn't a dream, was it?" he murmured loud enough that Riza over heard him. She walked to the mouth of the hallway, watching him carefully. "It did happen?" He looked up to her.

Riza nodded. He sighed deeply, putting his hands on his lap. She started to doubt the things that happened last night. She started to doubt her belief that Roy wasn't drunk when they were together. However, the look in his eyes was the same look he gave her after Mei saved her life. It was the only look that she knew personally. It was never given to any one else besides her. She had to ask, "How long?" His smile faded away, "How long have you been like this?"

Roy sighed, leaning his head back, "I think it was Ishval when I first saw you: how you looked after you had to kill all those people."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I tried to, but there was always something that got in the way. I wanted to tell you in the hospital after the Promised Day, but of course, I couldn't tell who else was in the room. I just wanted to tell you when we were alone. Most of the time when that happened was at the office and you were usually trying to push me to finish my paperwork." He sighed, "I didn't want to make you even more upset." She came by and grabbed one of his hands, pulling him up so that he was standing. Once he was on his feet, she embraced him tightly.

"You wouldn't have made me upset, Roy," she said, "because I have loved you since we've met."

"I think I did too. Ishval just made it even more of a big deal," he whispered into her ear, kissing her cheek right after. After awhile, Riza decided to make breakfast for the two of them and let them spend the day together. Roy was glad that today was a national holiday in Amestris and that everything happened the night before. He didn't have to worry about work and neither did she. They could just be themselves with each other. It could be like how they were when they were growing up when the aspiration for being the military wasn't as great and the world was just a world filled with twists and turns.

The thought of it was comforting to the Flame Alchemist. The last couple of years have been tough on him emotionally and physically. However, he could see himself now repaying himself (and his best friend who has gone through almost the same things he has) by the end of the year.

It would be a good year.

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><p><strong>AN: This chapter… I think is one of my best written chapters since like… I don't know! I just loved this chapter!**

**And I loved the whole couch wrestling scene hehehehehe**

**YAY YOU GOT YOUR ROYAI..**

**I think HavoCatalina needs some attention .. NEXT CHAPTER!**

**Please review! :) **

**Resident Asian **


	15. Here We Go Again

**A/N: OH MY GOD THIS IS ALMOST OVER!**

Chapter 15: Here We Go Again

December 31, 1916

Jean Havoc looked at himself in the mirror. He was actually kind of happy for tonight. Everything has been going so well for him after having a troublesome year. His parents were proud that he finally got a girlfriend, but not only that, they were happy that he could walk again without any problem. When he came home off the train for Christmas and ran to his parents, it was the best feeling in the world. Of course, he fell on his ass thanks to black ice, but once he stood up, everything was better.

He straightened up his jacket one more time as there was a knock at the door. With one slick movement, he ran out of his bedroom and to the front door, sliding on the hardwood floor. He swung open the door and leaned up against the frame. He smirked, "Hey."

Rebecca punched him in the gut, pushing him back into the apartment. He gave her a tight hug. "Jeez, Jean… I was only gone for five minutes and you're grabbing on to me as if it was five years," Rebecca grumbled.

"I know," he mused as he pointed up to the ceiling. She groaned. That was still up there? She reached up to him, putting a hand on his neck and pulled him down to her level where she planted her lips against his. Rebecca remembered when Havoc always tasted like alcohol and cigarettes on those "rare" occasions where the two swapped saliva, but now as he claimed to have "cleaned up his act", he actually tasted good to her. She knew that the only reason why Havoc stopped his antics was for her. At least, that's what she'll believe until death.

As they parted, Havoc smirked. Rebecca rolled her eyes, "When are you going to take that damned thing off?" she walked over to the couch and dropped a couple of things out of her bag. One of them happened to be her hand gun, but she took it back and clicked the safety off.

Havoc put his hands in his pockets, "Never. That thing will always be up."

"Until now," Rebecca aimed for the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. Her shot wasn't as good as Riza's, but it was still remarkable. She shot for the paperclip that held the mistletoe up. BANG! It fell to the ground with one of the red fake berries rolling away from the leafy trio. Havoc stared at it, mouth agape. He came over by Rebecca and put his hands on her cheeks.

"You're not Lieutenant Hawkeye, are you?" he asked, remembering everything that happened that night. She laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him again.

"No," she murmured, resting her head against his shoulder. She then jerked out of his embrace and started to pick up her purse again, "C'mon, we're going to be late." He followed her out the door, smiling and happy for what has happened.

Madame Christmas' Bar

Falman lifted up a glass out of Fuery's hand as Megumi came in to slap him straight in the face. "Not this time, kiddo," he laughed as Fuery fixed his glasses on his face.

"And don't you dare even try to pass one up on me," Megumi smirked, crossing her arms, "I may be the younger sister of Major Mikimoto, but that doesn't mean that I lack in the things that she succeeds in." Fuery rolled his eyes, placing an arm around her waistline.

"I know my limits," he tried to convince them, but Falman rolled his eyes.

"That's what you said last time and you were flat out drunk by 9 PM," He looked down at the pocket watch that was sitting on the bar. He slowly opened it up, "It's only 8:30."

"And everyone is not here yet," he muttered. It was tradition for Roy, Riza, and Havoc to end up late, however Breda was usually one of the sorry ones who forgot about tradition and ended up on time. Megumi postulated, stating that he didn't want to come because he didn't want to face the truth. The imminent truth that he has to kiss her sister the next time they see her. And that next time won't be long; Megumi promises to send her sister to Central to help with Dr. Hui one last time before the end of January.

Falman's wife, Angela, came out from the bathroom and stood next to her husband. Even though she was six months pregnant and shouldn't be drinking or around smokers, she decided to come out and meet Falman's friends from his days working in Central Command. However, as she was six months pregnant and tired, she really wanted to head to their hotel. She was willing to let Falman stay, but she was going to take the car. Angela didn't know that Falman didn't get drunk when he was out at the bar, so it was normal for all of them to hear, "I hope you don't go too overboard, sweetie," she said, putting her arms around his neck with her fingers sprawled on his chest.

He patted her hand, "It won't be too bad, right Fuery?"

Fuery took a quick drink while Megumi was looking away. He whispered, "Fuck yeah!" She turned back and noticed the disposition of the glass. She glared at her boyfriend as he awkwardly smiled at her.

Breda came through the door covered with a dusting of snow on his hair. When his eyes met Megumi's, he freaked out and almost ran back outside. "Oh shit, she's here!"

"Wrong sister!" Megumi laughed, grabbing Fuery's drink and sipping it. She immediately started coughing, not realizing that alcohol would have that effect on her. Fuery started to pat her back to help her stop coughing while Falman dragged Breda back into the bar. When he realized that it was Falman dragging him, he quickly gave him a hug.

"Falman! How are ya doin'?" he exclaimed, happy to see his friend again.

"I'm great," Angela came by, "This is my wife Angela." He turned to her, taking her hand in his, "This is my friend Lieutenant Heymans Breda."

She shook his hand, "Nice to meet you."

"The same," he nodded, feeling a little nervous around the woman. He couldn't help but notice that she was pregnant and showing it. He started to wonder if it would be okay for her to be here in the first place. The bar was closed down for their public patrons and only open for Mustang's team. None of them really smoked (Havoc was the only exception but since Rebecca came around…) so Breda eliminated that probability. Though every New Years Eve party was crazy. The craziest was last year for sure. He wasn't sure what would happen this year. Fuery brought Megumi and Havoc was most likely going to bring Rebecca into the function meaning more people and more crazy antics. He just hoped that the other side of him wouldn't scar the seventeen-year-old Xingese Alkahestrist wouldn't get scarred for life.

Havoc and Rebecca walked in together, dusting the snow off each other. He saw Falman from the corner of his eye and pointed at him, "Goddamn it Falman, you're the one who brought the snow!" The team laughed as Havoc came up and hugged his friend. Introductions were made to everyone while they waited for Colonel Mustang to show his ass up with Lieutenant Hawkeye.

Rebecca sat next to Megumi, "You have a sister don't you?" She asked, tilting her head one way.

She nodded, "Kind of loud, a skilled alchemist and an addiction to strawberry shortcake?" She laughed, taking in the inside jokes. Rebecca just stared at her. She calmed down, "Yeah, Major Ayame Mikimoto. She's my older sister."

"Are you sure you two aren't twins?" Megumi blushed. Her sister intentionally lied to the military so that there wouldn't be a problem with her entering the military at such a young age. In those lies, Ayame eliminated the fact that they were twins. She shook her head. "Really? I think some people would've gotten you confused with your sister."

"I-I'm a lot smaller than her," Megumi pointed out, lifting up her forearm. It was bonier than her sister's arms that were covered in scars and muscles. Even though Megumi looked like a scrawny little girl, she could fight as well as her sister. Just as Rebecca was going to ask her something else, the door slammed open and she heard someone groan out loud.

Roy was standing in the bar now, dusting off the snow on his head. If rain wasn't already a pain in the ass, snow was his death wish. Not only was it everywhere and cold, it was cold and everywhere! It barely snowed much in Central and when it did, it was always a big deal with the military. Now there were reports of the snow turning into a blizzard. Hopefully they wouldn't be stuck in the bar.

Riza followed behind him, showing no signs of their continued relationship. However, there was something that Roy let her do; tonight they were both going to drink and let someone else take them home. He needed to pay her back, as usual, and he was giving her little opportunities like this for now until he found a better way. Though, he had one right in his hands.

"Well, the Colonel is here, so you know what that means," Havoc smirked, standing next to Rebecca and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"The party starts!" Breda cheered, raising his beer up in the air.

Havoc shook his head, "No, not that. The bet." He reached into his back pocket and fished out his wallet. He started to shake it in front of his face, "And my wallet is kind of hungry."

Breda scowled, already knowing his demise. "Can't I kiss this one right here?" He pointed to Megumi who crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him. When their eyes met, he flinched, clearly seeing why Rebecca had wondered if the Mikimoto sisters were twins. She looked exactly like Ayame when she glared except that their hair color and lengths were different.

"No, a deals a deal," Havoc smirked.

"We've already arranged a time when Major Mikimoto will be in Central," Fuery smiled, pulling Megumi closer to him.

Roy's eyes widened, "Did you really?"

Megumi nodded, "Lee's transfer to the Eastern Hospital is in January. He wanted someone to help him get around on the train station and on the train, so Ayame and I had a contest and I won! Now she has to ride up here and come back."

He smirked, "I wish I could see her reaction to that, but there isn't a need for it any more." The team exchanged looks. What was going on? He grabbed a document from his coat pocket and showed it to all of them. "We're being transferred again, but with more perks than our transfer to Central." He paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath, "We were all promoted."

The men could not believe it. After all of these years hauling their load to help their commander reach the top, they were getting a little reward. Not only would some people be receiving a pay bonus, but also they would be given a promotion. The sounds of it made it seem like it was a holy word that couldn't be said out loud. "With the exception to Falman," he sighed, "Sorry."

"How much of a promotion, Chief?" Havoc asked, eager to know.

"One rank," he stated, handing them envelopes with their names on it. "Fuhrer Grumman also managed to get other supporters promoted."

Rebecca pointed at herself, "So he had me promoted as well?"

Roy nodded. "It would also explain how your sister," he was looking at Megumi, "was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel last August." She nodded in agreement even though Megumi didn't care about the rank system in the military. As long as they had a good source of income and that they were together—they could live their lives perfectly. That was her mantra.

"Where did we get transferred to?" Fuery asked, looking down at the official letter from the Fuhrer's office regarding his promotion. He was going to have to get used to being called Warrant Officer Fuery from now on.

"We're back to the East," Roy sighed, "but the good news is that I was promoted to General and I'm going to be the Commanding General of the East." He was happy that happened. He didn't complain much to anyone else but Riza, but he didn't like how it took a very long time to get from Central to Ishval when he was needed. Now that he is needed even more, the trip from Ishval to East City will cut the time wasted on the trip from Ishval to Central.

"That's great sir!" 1st Lieutenant Havoc smiled, putting his arm around General Mustang's neck.

"That's not all," Captain Riza Hawkeye mentioned, pulling out another white envelope from Roy's pocket. She handed it over to Captain Falman, "These are your transfer papers. You're being transferred from the North to the East to serve under General Mustang's command once again."

Angela and Falman exchanged glances. "Are you serious?" Riza nodded slowly. Falman quick opened up the envelope like a kid looking for the golden ticket in a chocolate bar. He quickly read over the letter and then lifted Angela up in the air. "We're finally getting out of that ice shack!"

"And just before the baby is born!" Angela smiled at her husband as she was brought back to Earth. She gave him a quick peck on the lips before he turned her around and put his hands on her shoulders. The party started in full swing with a couple drinks passed around. All of them had a new mission: they could not let Megumi drink at any cost because of her age. They didn't know what would happen if they did let her drink. Most of them were afraid that she would turn out to be her sister (when she is sober, though none of them have seen Ayame drunk,) and didn't want to be pummeled by the innocent looking Mikimoto sister.

After Falman took Angela to the apartment and returned to the bar, the team decided to get on to more serious business: the challenge. Havoc wanted to get through who finished the challenge sober so he could remember who owed him money. Not only that, but neither Rebecca nor Riza wanted him or Roy to create a stupid challenge like the one they dealt with.

However, Havoc was being a bit cocky about the challenge. He finished the same time Roy and Riza did when really; Falman was the first one to complete the challenge. Fuery came in second and there's a three-way tie for the last place. In any case, Havoc was dancing around Breda with a beer in hand and his wallet flashing in his face. Breda snapped, grabbing Havoc's arm and pulling it back. He started flailing in pain, "Goddamn it Breda, let go!"

Riza came into break up the fight again, just like last year, and made sure that none of them would kill each other as the night went on. "Just get on with it. I need to get home so I can write my last will and testament," Breda grumbled, crossing his arms on his chest.

Fuery finished the challenge on August 20th when Havoc asked how things were going with Megumi. He had forgotten about the challenge in the first place and was focused on trying to impress her and her sister. Breda came up to him and slapped him his money. Fuery made sure that he got the right amount of money before splitting it up with Megumi.

Breda walked up to Falman, who finished the challenge on the night it was initiated and paid him. He was starting to feel sick. He was losing 250,000 cenz in one night! 250,000 cenz that he could've easily avoided losing if he got the courage to ask someone out and date her for more than a month!

Roy, Riza and Havoc finished the challenge on October 10th. Havoc made a huge show about it, but Riza was on the verge of shooting him for not doing his work on that day. As Breda paid Havoc, he got even cockier, "Hey! I don't think that you two were in a relationship." Roy's eyes narrowed at Havoc. Not this again. "I want proof!"

Riza whispered to Roy, "I think he's starting to get drunk."

"Starting? I think he is," Roy muttered back, pulling her closer to him. Her put her arms around his torso as he put his arm around her shoulders. Havoc demanded that those two kiss each other, but no one else supported him. Roy decided to reach down and give a kiss to Riza. Havoc cheered out loud, grabbing another beer and chugging that one down. Breda rolled his eyes, paying his superior officers. Before the men started to drink again, it was announced that the men needed to be at the train station on the fourth of January before noon. They were going to head over to East City about a day early to get their things settled before stepping into the big shoes of being the top team at the military base. After that, the men ordered shots and continued with the party. Falman joined in on the drinking despite his high tolerance for alcohol. Roy bought Riza a shot and let her have something to drink, giving her at least a chance for her to have some fun instead of babysitting them. Megumi was left to sip something nonalcoholic while Havoc and Breda were in charge of not letting Fuery get off the deep end.

For a moment, they all forgot about what happened last year. They were all happy that they were together in one piece with everyone in good health. Two years ago was a celebration of just having each other, now it was a celebration of life and accomplishment. Roy was closer to becoming Fuhrer with his new ranking and position as the commanding general at Eastern Command. With that, he can easily get a feel for what it is like to lead a huge group of soldiers. Not only was that a great achievement for him, but also Ishval was getting better and he knew that he had his _Captain_ by his side no matter what. He knew that he was breaking fraternization laws just by being with her, but as long as no one says anything about it, he knew he would be fine. Besides, the men were drinking their asses off tonight and who knows if they will remember it all? Falman, for sure, will remember it all, but that's just him.

Havoc was happy to finally get a girlfriend. Okay, Rebecca isn't just a girlfriend to him. She is a super awesome girlfriend. He thought that he would never really like her, but now that he sees her in a different light, his perception has changed. Rebecca likes how that happened, but won't tell it to him so that he could keep his mouth shut.

After many months of waiting and considering, Fuery and Megumi finally got together. It was a sigh of relief for the two of them. Neither of them really knew what to do after their first break up. Fuery had to go to the front lines and fight while Megumi had to stay underneath the covers and pretend that she knew nothing of what was going on in the military prior to the Promised Day. And it wasn't just Megumi and Fuery that were happy; Ayame wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she was happy that they were together. She saw Fuery as someone who would make her younger sister happier than she could ever imagine.

As the night went on, little antics stayed the same. Havoc and Rebecca were both flat out drunk and singing along to an old military song that played on the radio. It wasn't even midnight yet when he yelled, "I bet you can't grow a mustache Chief!"

Roy set down his drink and felt his upper lip. He had some stubble underneath, but nothing visible to the human eye. He was getting to his point and stared down Havoc. "Bullshit. I can grow a stache."

"Fine," Havoc folded his arms across his chest, "but if you can't within a month, then Captain Hawkeye has to cut her hair to how short it was when we started!"

Riza's eyes widened upon hearing the news. She liked having her hair this long, but that didn't stop her boyfriend from screaming, "You're on!"

_Here we go again. _

**A/N: OH I JUST COULDN'T LEAVE IT AT JUST THAT GUYS :) I HAD TO!**

**Well, this totally goes against my head canon for the RoyStache (my actual canon is the story A Hairy Bet lol) **

**THIS IS ALMOST DONE—I'M SORRY TO SAY!**

**But now we get to see Breda and Ayame pucker up and just one last thing before we finally say good bye.**

**Oh, and for those who are following me as an author—yeah, I haven't updated "Not Meant to Live" when it was supposed to be a Halloween type fiction D: **

**Ah, well, you get some fun with that story :) **

**Please review! I like those :) **


	16. New Beginnings and Ends

**A/N: This is the last chapter of A 'Love'ly Year guys! :( I want to thank all of my followers, reviewers, and favoriters who have been giving me a reason to check my e-mail for updates on my story. You guys have helped me find an inspiration to finish writing this story! Thank you very much! I can't tell you how much I want to thank you! Hahaha**

**Well, anyways, after this chapter, there will be actually TWO MORE deleted scenes. There is one from Chapter 10 (the one where Riza got attacked… yeah that, chapter) and one from Chapter 15 that I came up with… semiconscious (I was technically sleeping but I thought this would be a good part in the chapter.) Shitty part was that it was supposed to go at the end of Chapter 15 [actually, it would fit better there] and I had already posted chapter 15 on FFN!**

**Anyways, enjoy the final chapter of A 'Love'ly Year! My next project is to finish the intended to be but hell it's not any more Halloween esque fic "Not Meant to Live"**

**Until next time**

**Resident Asian**

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><p>Epilogue- New Beginnings and Ends<p>

January 5, 1917

Eastern Command Center

It rarely snowed in East City.

That was an understatement.

So in the last couple of months, East City has been covered in a blanket of snow. The trains going in and out of the city have been delayed and the efforts to get everyone to where they wanted to go safely had been a huge concern to the military. Not only that, but since Fuhrer Grumman was appointed to his position, the presence of a commanding general in the Eastern Command was diluted. The general that Fuhrer Grumman thought to have done the job well was lacking and often needed assistance from other high-ranking officers that have been stationed here for a long time.

It also meant that then-Major Ayame Mikimoto was involved with helping out the former commanding general. Her involvement had lead to her promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in the middle of the summer.

And now with a new commanding general—one that Lieutenant Colonel Mikimoto knows personally—it seemed that things would slowly start to get better. She knew that the new commanding general didn't need as much assistance as the last one and she knew that dealing with this area would be easy: it was where everything began from the early days of the Fullmetal Alchemist's journeys.

She stood outside of the main building on the steps, hands in her pockets and her sister right behind her. She pulled her hat over her ears, using as much hair as she could to cover them up. Megumi shivered, clutching on to her sister's arm tighter. "It was never this cold in Xing," she mentioned.

Ayame grumbled, "Never. But we're so close to the freaking desert—how the hell could it snow here?"

"Did you ask any of the locals?"

She shook her head, "They all said that this was weird for them as well. Though, I need to talk to Lieutenant Havoc… he grew up here and he should know the weather by now." She readjusted her black pea coat and looked up. She quickly went down two steps and saluted. Megumi stood above her, looking down with confusion. Who could that be?

"General Mustang sir!" Ayame said with authority. "Welcome to back to Eastern Command." Megumi snickered quietly behind her. She knew what was about to go on. Her eyes met with Breda's, who was trying to look away from the Lieutenant Colonel as if she were Medusa. She winked at him and he shuddered. He did not want to do this.

"Are you sure this is Eastern Command, Dark Night?" He snickered, "Or did you get transferred to the North as well?"

Ayame rolled her eyes. "I have no clue, sir. I haven't lived here for more than three years." No one could believe it. It has been three years since Ayame came to Amestris? Those years went by very quickly. However, there has been a hell load of changes since the Promised Day. It seemed that everyone got a second chance at making their lives better after that day. Fullmetal was correct. A lesson without pain is meaningless. It had now evolved to a way of life for those who were impacted by his journey.

General Mustang nodded at the young Xingese Alchemist, "It's always good to see that you're not getting yourself in trouble."

She rolled her eyes, "The same goes for you, sir. From what I've heard from the other officers; you got your team back together."

"Yes, I did, Dark Night," he smiled proudly. "And from what I've heard, you have your own team, Lieutenant Colonel Mikimoto." It was weird for her to hear him call her by her full title name. Roy always insisted on calling her by her alchemist nickname as he did with Edward Elric. She always thought about it as something that he did on purpose. She was one of the younger alchemists along with Ed and so the title of Major Mikimoto or Major Elric seemed to give an older connotation. But now the title was doing what it was supposed to be doing: fooling the higher officers to believe that she was older than technically 17 years old.

Ayame nodded, shivering as a strong wind blew through the compound. Roy and the rest of his team walked pass her. Riza, as usual, walked two steps behind Roy and the others followed in a random group. Havoc, still being a prankster with the whole bet thing and New Years Eve, tripped Breda on purpose. He kept on moving as if it was nothing major and his doing, hastening a bit to get closer to Fuery.

Ayame wasn't usually one to help people up, but she felt like she had to since Breda was so close to her. She grabbed on to his thick arm, pulling him up slowly. They almost fell together on the black ice, but Ayame took a step away from the patch and continued helping. "Are you okay, Lieutenant Breda?" she asked, looking past her shoulder and glaring at Lieutenant Havoc. He smirked back at the Xingese Alchemist, opening his mouth in preparation for what he was going to say next.

"Don't forget to kiss her, Braidykins!" Breda quickly grabbed the shirt collar of Ayame when she wasn't paying attention and pecked her on the lips. Upon parting away from her, he ran up the steps. She looked back and forth, confused and dazed out of her mind. The rest of Team Mustang that witnessed this were smirking and holding in their chuckles so that she wouldn't hear them. Megumi was in the mix of them all, clinging on to Fuery as she was in histerics. Ayame saw that Havoc was doubled over, laughing out loud. She glowered at him, thinking that it was his brilliant idea to do this.

"I'm going to fucking kick your ass, Havoc!" She screamed, running at him with her sais. Havoc started to make a run for it as she was gaining ground on him. The rest of the team started laughing while Breda caught his breath. Well, at least he didn't die today. She jumped on Havoc, making him land in the snow as she kept on hitting him at the back of his head.

He groaned. He thought he wouldn't be the one to die from this day, but by the looks of it… It was his death day. At least now, Havoc knew his lesson. He knew to never mess around with Rebecca Catalina-he still had some pain from when they first broke up-and never mess around with Ayame. He also knew to never make bets while he was drunk. While he did say that in front of his superior officers, some of them doubted him.

Fuery whispered to Falman, "100 cenz he makes a bet."

"Deal."

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><p>June 27, 1917<p>

Fuhrer Grumman smiled up at General Mustang. The two of them were in the General's office as the yearly East vs North training exercises that were being held in the East this time. Fuhrer Grumman remembered the last time the exercises were held in the East—it was the day when the coup d'état had started and they blew up Fuhrer Bradley's train. However, this time, things were different. Sure the Eastern and Northern forces were training as they speak, but there was a different occasion going on today. All that the Fuhrer did was smile and say a couple words to the General before he left. Once the General was gone, Grumman sat back in his chair with one hand propping his head up on the desk. He started chuckling. "Oh I cannot wait to see her face after this."

After the daily training, Riza was usually tired. As she was now a part of the commanding team for the East, she had to help out with teaching the soldiers how to shoot correctly. One of the soldiers that she had to teach was Lieutenant Colonel Mikimoto who never learned how to snipe, but some how learned how to handle handguns. While she wasn't too much of a problem, the rest of the privates and low ranking officers were. She had to constantly push off the privates who tried to hit on her. It was starting to get annoying, so the more it happened, the colder Captain Hawkeye acted around them.

When she got home, Black Hayate first greeted her. He jumped up to her knees, wanting some attention from his mommy, but she immediately told him to sit down and stay as she walked through her apartment. She couldn't help but notice that there was someone in here; there were lights on in the kitchen and in the bathroom. There was a jacket that was placed on the chair next to the dining room table and a small bag of groceries. Not knowing how it could be, she grabbed her gun from its holster and clicked the safety off. Hayate decided to go ahead of his mommy and look for the person that was in the apartment. He simply walked into the kitchen and sat down in the middle of the area, looking up and waiting patiently.

Riza peered over the edge of the kitchen wall to get a good look at who it was. Upon seeing who it was, she took a deep breath, clicked the safety back on and put her gun away. "Get out of my house, Roy," she coldly stated.

He leaned back from where he was standing close to the stove to have his head visible from the doorway. He whispered, "Where is she?" Riza groaned, taking a couple steps into the doorway and showing up. He smiled at her, walking slowly and giving her a tight hug. She tried to push him away, but once someone is in the arms of Roy Mustang, it seemed impossible to get out. He kissed her on the lips, feeling relieved that he could show his feelings for her here without worrying about anyone else finding out. The only person that could find out was Black Hayate, but he has known since September that he loved his mommy very much. Riza put her hand to the side of his face with her thumb brushing over the hairs on his moustache. "When are you going to shave that off?"

"The moment your hair grows back to the same length," he mused, combing his fingers through her ear length hair. Havoc put in some stupid clause that meant that Captain Hawkeye had to cut her hair back in the spring. And some how, Havoc managed to lose and win. He lost money when Roy grew out the stache and won money when Riza cut her hair. "Or until you marry me," he added, smirking and taking a couple steps away from her.

Riza closed her eyes, groaning loudly. It was always this or that when it came to these deals. It has always been like this since the challenge from last year, and now she was wishing for the men to quit making deals like this. Not only did it distract them from their work, it always created a mess of things. Breda was still recovering from the loss of money in the beginning of the year and Havoc can't walk pass Lieutenant Colonel Mikimoto without remembering what happened when they first came to Eastern Command.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed that Roy was kneeling on one knee with a little black box in his hands. Black Hayate was sitting right next to him, looking up at his master and waiting for her response. She gasped, covering mouth with her hands as Roy patiently waited. She could not believe this was happening—she only thought that they were going to date for awhile and then get back to working as subordinate and superior officer, but they have been dating for almost a year now. And who knows how long Roy has kept his crush on Riza? She still didn't know how long that was; but she always thought that it wasn't very long. "Riza Hawkeye," he slowly said, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "You have been by my side for almost ten years, and now I'm asking you if you will take my hand in marriage and be by my side forever."

"W-We can't do this, Roy," she stated, shaking a little as her heart started to beat faster and faster. "The laws—"

He stood up so he could be on the same level as her. "I asked for your Grandfather's blessing and he gave it to me without any argument. Remember when you first met him after you found out that he was your grandfather?" She nodded slowly, "He said, 'if there is anything you want me to do, just ask me. I want you to be happy.'"

"Wait, so he thinks that if I marry you, then I'll be happy?" she asked, surprised that her grandfather would think of that.

"And I would shave my moustache," he added.

Riza stood there for a while as Roy watched her. He really wanted to know her reaction and everything. The tension was very thick in the room. He knew that if he snapped his fingers now, the whole room would be engulfed with flames and the apartment building would explode. She quietly stated, "Yes."

It caught Roy off guard for a moment. He looked down as if he was rejected, causing Riza to look at him with a confused expression. "Wait, was this a joke?" She reached back towards her gun, but then Roy remembered what she said and his head snapped up. He startled her for a moment.

"Did you just say yes?"

"Yes, did you not hear me?" She said, wondering what was wrong with her fiancée. He pulled her into another tight hug as she put her arms around his torso. She laughed a little, knowing that he would never act like this. However, he had the right to—he just risked it all to ask her to marry him.

"I love you Riza," he said as he slipped the simple gold ring with a small row of diamonds on her finger.

"I love you too Roy," she kissed him for the first time as her fiancée, her heart fluttering and flying away from her chest. Roy went on to explain that Grumman had immediately said yes when he asked for his blessing for their marriage. He was willing to pay for all the expenses and everything. Not only that, but he was going to come up with a way to keep the wedding swept underneath the rug so that nobody would suspect a thing until Mustang became Fuhrer.

If Riza were to recall all the events that happened this year, this proposal would be on the top of the list. Many things have gone by like Havoc getting his ass kicked by Ayame and Rebecca to the success of the Ishvalan Reconstruction Project.

In the end, Riza didn't think that this year would end up like this. She was actually happy now. She was going to marry the man that she has secretly loved for years and the same was happening to Roy. He was also a step closer to becoming Fuhrer and making Amestris into a democracy.

Everyone was happy. Fuery was back with Megumi and Ayame was surprisingly happy. Falman and Angela had their child, Lucy in March. There was some discussion about Havoc and Rebecca-but nothing as big as a proposal.

"I have to admit, Riza," he smiled at her, "It's been a tough year."

She nodded, "But it has also been lovely."

"Yes," he kissed her one more time, "It has been a lovely year."

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><p><strong>AN: OHH SHIT IT'S A LOVELY YEAR HAHAHA**

**Once again, I cannot thank all of you who have read this story or have contributed to a review for your support and all the things you have done!**

**Be on the watch out for my next story, "Not Meant to Live". The first two chapters have been posted and the third one where all the shit goes down will be posted soon!**

**Until next time!**

**Resident Asian**

**P.S. I HAVE DELETED SCENES TO GIVE TO YOU AS WELL**


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